The Other Twin
by Bruce Pendragon
Summary: A story I wrote ages ago involving the Koopa Royal Family, some political intrigue, and an OC. Hey, I was young. Has nothing to do with my Vanguard story arc. Reviews welcome, but keep in mind I was less experienced when this was written.
1. Chapter 1

A word from the author_: I wrote this way back in junior high, back when I went by the screen name of Jazzman von Koopa. It was originally published on a different site. I ran across it the other day when I was digging through some old files and decided it might have some potential, even though it's not my absolute best work. Anyway, this version has been revamped a little, mostly to adjust a character created by another author, who is not posted on Also, each chapter was originally a separate story, so a few changes were made to ease the transition. Other than that, here is the story that got me started in fanfiction all those skrillions of years ago. I guess you could call this the Jazzman Saga: Special Edition._

The Other Twin

Chapter One: The Forgotten Prince

It was a dark and stormy night. Bowser Koopa sat on his throne staring out the windows, contemplating his next scheme and enjoying the relaxing sound of the rolling thunder. He was sure nothing could spoil his mood when a Terra Cotta walked into the throne room and saluted.

"Sir," it said formally, "there's a visitor here requesting to speak to you, and he says It's urgent."

Bowser was so disgusted by the interruption that he could have incinerated the turtle on the spot. "Send it in," thundered Bowser, in a tone that very clearly said "and don't show your miserable face in my presence  
again, vermin."

The creature that walked in at that moment was something Bowser could never have imagined would show up on his doorstep. It was a Koopa with black scales and a black shell. His spikes and chestplate were white, and to top off his penguin-like coloration he wore a black bowtie. He bore a strong resemblance to Ludwig in the face, and had long black hair the shape of Ludwig's, but unlike Ludwig's his hair was neatly parted into to distinct billows. He wore an all-to-cheerful-for-a-Koopa expression on his face, and he just absolutely looked like he didn't belong where he was.

"Announcing," said the Terra Cotta guard, "Prince Jazzman Koopa of the Dome Clan of Koopas."

Bowser rubbed his chin for a moment. "Dome Clan, you say?" he asked, addressing Jazzman, "We hear very little out of the Vanilla Dome."

"We're a small clan, that doesn't surprise me," Jazzman said.

"Where is your castle located, Prince?" Bowser interrogated further.

"Under the Vanilla Dome," replied Jazzman after a moment's hesitation, "deeper than your castles there."

"And... who is your leader?" Bowser continued with his bombardment of questions.

Jazzman paused a moment, and answered, "My father, Lord Grax, Champion of-"

"Thank you," Bowser interrupted, "then I'll be brief. Why are you here?"

Jazzman cleared his throat and began, "I am here at the wish of my father to request in the name of-"

Bowser waved an uninterested claw. "Skip the formalities," he groaned, "I can't stand people who take twenty minutes to say they stopped in to say hello!"

Jazzman breathed a sigh of relief. "Yo, that's just swingin' daddy-o. Whew, I felt like a real square talkin' like that. Sheesh! Anyway..."

Bowser looked at the turtle guard, who just looked back, confused. Bowser began to wonder if the formalities wouldn't have been preferable.

"I'm here," Jazzman continued, "'cause we cats back at the Dome Clan have this little exchange program. Y'know, one of those you-give-us-one-of-your-people-and-we-give-ya-one-of-ours deals. Anyway, my point is set an extra seat at the table, 'cause I'll be coming to dinner for a while. Wadd'ya say, daddy-o?"

Bowser blinked his eyes blankly. "Could you run that past me again in plain Koopish?"

Jazzman sighed. "Im movin' in, and one of your kids is movin' out," he summarized. "Not for good," he quickly added, "just for... oh, say a year or so. They'll be livin' with the Dome Clan. For that matter, since my clan knows you can't really spare one o' your kids, I'll just move in."

Bowser tapped his claws on the arm of his throne and thought about this for a moment. "Very well, I see nothing wrong with that." His demeanor suddenly lightened. "Well, Jazzman, welcome to the clan of Morton. I'll have a guard give you a tour of the castle while your bags are being carried to your room."

Jazzman shook his head. "No sweat," he replied, "all I packed was this." He snapped his fingers and a black case appeared at his feet. He bent and opened it, revealing a saxophone. He grinned as he saw Bowser's reaction. "I'm a music man, you see." With that he closed the case and shoved it into the arms of the Terra Cotta. "Take that to my room, won't ya? Swingin'!"

"I see," mused Bowser, "you and Ludwig will get along just fine. Well, guard," and at the snap of Bowser's fingers a Goomba stepped out of the shadows, "show our guest the castle." And so the turtle left with Jazzman's sax, and the Goomba left with Jazzman.

When everyone was gone, Bowser narrowed his eyes. "He's dumber than he looks. This kid can't think I'm just going to take him into my house at the drop of a hat. I'll have to locate this Grax and check out the boy's story." His face darkened further. "And I _know_ I've heard the name Jazzman somewhere before..."

**

* * *

**Later that night, Jazzman sat in his newly assigned chamber pondering what to do next. He knew his mission, and he knew it wasn't going to be an easy one. However, that could wait. Right now he was just grateful Bowser had bought his story about the exchange program. As he thought back on it, he couldn't help but chuckle, it was such a ridiculous lie. For that matter, he couldn't believe Bowser had accepted the news of a clan he had never heard of. Of course, he couldn't have heard of it, because Jazzman had made it up. There was no O'gla clan, no Grax, and Jazzman had never known there was a greater or lesser part of Dinoland. 

Jazzman had only been honest about one thing, he WAS from Dinoland. He was left for dead on Yoshi's Island as an infant by Bowser and Clawdia. The reason was that Jazzman was one of a set of twins, and twins were considered a terrible omen in the Koopa race. To try to avert disaster, the Koopas had abandoned one child and raised the other, never telling anyone that there had been another child. If not for the kindness of the Yoshi clan, Jazzman would have died.

Jazzman was raised knowing only part of his name, Jazzman von K. He was told that he had been found on a beach in a basket with this name written on it. All his life, Jazzman had believed this. But somehow he had always known he was different from the others on the island. One day Jazzman got up the courage to ask his adopted parents, a pair of green Yoshis, why he was the only one on the island with a shell. However, they were reluctant to answer. Finally, the Yoshies told him that he was a Koopa, a race who hated the Yoshies terribly, and this was what the K in his name stood for. They begged him never to seek out his parents, and he had agreed. But secretly he vowed to learn the whole truth about his past.

It had taken a year of snooping through old documents from the Mushroom Kingdom to learn of a mysterious twin brother to King Bowser's eldest son, Ludwig von Koopa, who was abandoned and presumed dead. This document seemed to date back to about the time Jazzman was found. Also, when Jazzman looked  
up this Ludwig, all he found was a picture of a Koopa who looked a lot like himself. Jazzman had decided right then that he would find this Ludwig and his family, and unite them with the people who raised him. So he came up with a cover story, took off toward Koopa Castle, and here he was.

A knock at the door brought Jazzman out of his reverie. "C'mon in," Jazzman called. The door opened and the person who knocked stepped in. Jazzman looked up to see...

... But it couldn't be!!!!

"Hi," said the whatever-it-was, "the name's Aura. Are you this Jazzman I've heard about?"

"Uh, y... yeah," Jazzman stuttered, "that's me. Who... I mean, are you a-"

Aura rolled her eyes. "Yes," she sighed, "I'm a hybrid: half Yoshi, and half Koopa."

Jazzman nodded. "I... didn't think-"

"Ya didn't think that could happen." Aura interrupted. "It's a long story, and I'd rather not go into the details."

"I bet it is," Jazzman replied. "I can't remember very many Koopa/Yoshi run-ins that didn't end in a fight."

Aura sighed, and answered, "Well, bizarre pairings are nothing new around here."

"Whaddaya mean?" Jazzman prodded.

"I'm betrothed to one of Bowser's sons," Aura said, gritting her teeth. "it's a political thing. My mother and his mother arranged it because it's supposed to strengthen some alliance or something, even though Bowser hates my guts, and Ludwig and I aren't real crazy about one another either. But anyway," her face darkened. "Now that you know my deep dark secret, what's yours?"

Jazzman nearly fell out of his chair as he stammered, "W... whaddaya mean by that?"

Aura racked a slight smile as she answered, "Ya might be able to put one over on Bowser, but not me. Ya see, I lived in Dinoland most of my life, and I know the Dome Clan doesn't even have a prince. They're a republic. So, what's your real story?" At Jazzman's undecided look she added, "C'mon, ya think I'm gonna tell Bowser? Get real!"

Jazzman nodded, seeing no other choice than to explain. "I should've known when I saw ya that you knew Dinoland pretty well," he began, "Well, anyway, can you keep somethin' real big under your hat?"

"Your secret's safe." Aura reassured him.

"Swingin'," Jazzman sighed and launched into his tale of being abandoned and raised by Yoshies, what a revelation it was to him when he learned his true identity, to which Aura had to laugh, and his resolve to unite his family with his adopted people. "I was already startin' to think it couldn't happen, the way that guard talked when I brought up the cats back on Yoshies Island," he said as an afterthought, "but if you're here, I guess that proves it can."

"Well, If you want to bring these people together, ya know whatcha gotta do first?" Aura inquired after a pause.

"What? What?" Jazzman begged, bouncing with excitement.

"Let me whisper it in your ear," Aura replied, "it's a secret." She leaned over toward Jazzman's ear and whispered, "Kid, comb your hair!"

Aura got out the door just in time to avoid the pillow Jazzman threw at her.

**

* * *

**

The next morning found Jazzman pacing the floor of his chamber, thinking about the events of the previous day. He had a renewed sense of hope as he thought of Aura, living proof that Yoshies and Koopas didn't have to hate each other.

"If two can marry and have a kid, then the races ought to be able to get along," he thought out loud, "The problem is how'm I supposed to tell those cats that?"

Once again his thoughts were interrupted by a knock at the door.

"C'mon in." he called, trying to keep the aggravation out of his voice. His invitation was unnecessary, however, because before he finished saying it the door opened and Aura stepped in. This time she wasn't alone though. With her was... Jazzman gasped as he beheld the face of a Koopa who simply had to be Ludwig von Koopa.

"Hey, kid," Aura greeted, "after our chat last night, I decided to introduce you to someone who's a lot like you," she emphasized the next phrase, "in a lot of ways!" She looked at Jazzman to see if he understood. Clearly he did, so she introduced the Koopa twins to each other. "Jazzman, this is Kooky. Kooky," she paused, "this is Jazzman von Koopa."

Ludwig's jaw nearly sank through the floor as he heard this. "V... von," he stammered, "b... but that's-"

"That's your middle name," Aura interrupted, "I know. Jazzman, why don't you explain?"

Jazzman couldn't help but think this was a little too soon, but he didn't have any choice now. "Well, hey, Ludwig," he began, "I guess you ought to know the reason we have the same middle name. Y'see-"

"I'm very familiar with the justification for two individuals in the Koopa race to be identified by the same middle name," Ludwig interrupted, "But... but..." he searched for the most diplomatic way to say what he was thinking, "But I can't POSSIBLY HAVE A TWIN! It simply is not logically... logical!"

Aura knew Ludwig had to be taking this hard, because he was using words people could understand. Maybe this wasn't such a great idea she thought as she tried to calm Ludwig down. "Look, Kooky," she said as soothingly as she could, "this isn't a bad thing."

"Not a bad thing?" Ludwig snapped back, "Aura, do you know how terrible an omen this is?"

That was too much for Aura. "Oh, get over it!" she snapped, "I thought a Koopa who put so much stock in science would have better sense than to buy in to all that omen junk! Besides, isn't it supposed to be a bad omen to Marry outside your bloodline? Well, I don't remember your father objecting to our arranged marriage, even though he hates the idea. Kooky, use your head for something besides a giant blue Chia pet for once!"

Jazzman decided now was a good time to intervene. "Hey, look," he said, "I know this is hard to accept, but... Well, Ludwig, I'm your twin brother,"  
he paused to wait for Ludwig's reaction.

"But how?" began Ludwig, "I mean, if I really did have a twin, then why... why..."

"Why didn't your parents tell you?" Jazzman finished the sentence, "Because like you said, it's supposed to be an omen. They didn't want anybody to know, because it'd cause a panic! So, to keep that from happening they left me on Yoshi's Island. If those cats back at Yoshi's Island hadn't felt  
sorry for me I would've died!"

Ludwig was completely silent for a while as the news finally began to sink in. "You do bear a striking physical resemblance to me," he conceded, "perhaps there is a possibility that the narrative you have just imparted to me is truthful. However the interrogative that remains unanswered is simply this: how did you come to hypothesize that you were a twin, and that your counterpart resided in this establishment?"

"My first clue, daddy-o, was that I was the only swinger on Yoshi's Isle with one o' these." Jazzman answered, pointing to his shell. "When I went to ask the cats who adopted me about that, they told me the whole story. At least, they told me what they knew. I had to snoop for myself before I found out about you, and Bowser and Clawdia's mysterious twins. So when I found you, I decided I'd drop in and say hey."

Ludwig nodded, and countered, "Then what was or is your motivation for coming here, disregarding the notion that you merely 'dropped in to say hey'? I find it hard to accept that you would compromise your existence simply to greet an entity whom you theorized was your twin brother."

Jazzman was about to explain when he heard a thunderous voice from the doorway shout, "Halt! Surrender immediately or you will be fired upon, creature!" Jazzman, Aura, and Ludwig all looked up to see Bowser standing at the door surrounded by Sledge Brothers armed with hand Bill-Blasters. All three stood, dumbfounded, as Bowser stepped forward with a smaller cannon pointed at Jazzman's chest. "So," he began with a malicious tone in his voice, "you thought you could fool me, did you? You thought I wouldn't recognize you, did you? Well, let me correct you, _twin_. I know exactly who you are, I know exactly where you are really from, and I couldn't care less what your reasons were for coming here!" He grabbed Jazzman and threw him in front of the platoon of Sledge Brothers. "And now," he hissed, "I'm going to finish what I started by abandoning you on Yoshi's Island! Take him away!" The Sledge Brothers then dragged Jazzman away to the public execution grounds.

Aura was frantic. "Ludwig," she gasped, "what are we going to do?"

Ludwig looked up toward the departing group, then turned to Aura. "We're going to follow them!" he said with a conviction that surprised both Aura and himself. And with that, they ran after Bowser and his group.

**

* * *

**

"Bowser," Clawdia pleaded, "you can't do this. It's just not right!"

"And what would you have me do," Bowser snapped back, "let this thing invade my house?"

"That thing," Clawdia screamed, "is your son, just as Ludwig is!"

"She's right, daddy-o," Jazzman chimed in, "I'm-"

"You'll have time for last words later," Bowser cut him off, "if I decide that it should be so!" Moments later, they reached the execution ground. Bowser's eyes were filled with rage as he hurled Jazzman in front of the Sledge Brothers. "Ready," he shouted and the guards raised their cannons. "aim," and they pointed them at Jazzman's heart.

"NO!" shouted Aura, rushing onto the execution ground and throwing herself in front of Jazzman.

Bowser paused for a moment before he shrugged. "Just as well. FIRE!"

But the Sledge Brothers didn't fire. As Bowser looked to see why they had not yet carried out his order, he saw to his horror that Ludwig, his eldest son, was standing in front of Aura and Jazzman.

"Ludwig," Bowser snarled, "get out of the way!" But Ludwig didn't budge. "Ludwig," Bowser growled through gritted teeth, "don't think for a minute that risking your life is going to save them." Ludwig stood fast. Bowser was practically pleading as he said, "Ludwig, you are my eldest son, my pride and joy, my heir! But if you don't move I will be forced to kill you with them!"

"Then that, dear father," replied Ludwig with resolve, "is what you must do."

Bowser's hands were clenched in fists of rage as he bellowed, "So be it! Ready," the guards raised their weapons again, "aim," they pointed them at the three condemned Koopas. But just as Bowser was about to issue the fatal command, Clawdia did something Bowser could never have predicted: she stepped in front of Ludwig.

"I gave this child up to die once before," she explained as everyone gasped, "I'm not about to do it again."

Bowser froze. He knew what Koopa law demanded in this situation, but something at the bottom of his blackened and twisted heart wouldn't allow him to have his wife, two sons, and daughter-in-law all executed at once. Bowser made a sound that was a mix of a defeated sigh and an enraged roar as he ordered his soldiers to lower their weapons and return to their posts.

Ludwig, Jazzman, Aura, and Clawdia all stood silently for a moment. Finally, Clawdia broke the silence by asking, "Is everyone alright?"

"I am well," answered Ludwig.

"I'm fine," replied Aura.

"Everything's swingin'," Jazzman responded, causing laughs from the others. "There's just one thing. Why was ol' Bowser jumpin' so hard to get rid of me?"

"He doesn't accept change easily, dear," replied Clawdia. She looked into Jazzman's face and her eyes filled up with tears. "Oh, son," she sobbed, throwing her arms around Jazzman's neck, "I'm so sorry. I knew I shouldn't have left you there, but I... I-"

"Don't worry 'bout it," consoled Jazzman as he wrenched himself free of Clawdia's almost smothering embrace, "everything's swingin'."

**

* * *

**Later on, as Aura and Ludwig were walking up the stairs to Ludwig's room, Aura laced her fingers through Ludwig's and said, "You know, that was the second time you've risked your life to save me. You're gonna have a real hard time saying you still don't like me." 

Ludwig racked his brain for the response he needed. "I don't like you a bit," he stated after a moment, "but I love you."

Aura's smile faded and she clenched her fists, ready to give Ludwig a severe pounding. "Could you explain that one to me, Kooky?" she asked.

"Not if my very existence depended on it," came the reply, "because I don't comprehend it myself. All I understand is this. When we're together, we wish for nothing more than to be away from each other," his voice softened a bit before he added, "but when we're away from each other, I find myself longing to see your face again, or hear your voice." Having said that he pulled Aura toward him and kissed her passionately.

Aura's smile returned as she whispered, "So that's why you risked your life for me."

"No," Ludwig corrected, "that is only part of the reason."

"So, what's the other part?" Aura asked.

"Because losing you or my brother would be unbearable," Ludwig replied, "but losing both of you... well, that would be incomprehensible!" He thought for a moment, and asked, "And as our conversation is already on this topic, what convinced you that his story was true and that he really was my twin?"

Aura grinned as she whispered, "It's a secret." Ludwig leaned his ear toward her, so she whispered into it, "Ya both have the same mop on top of your heads!" With that she ran her hand quickly through Ludwig's hair, pulling it over his eyes, and rushed up the stairs with Ludwig chasing.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter Two: You Can't Hide From the Truth

"So you're leaving, Jagger?" came a voice from the door, "Going to rejoin the Troop, eh?"

Jagger, the Terrapin warrior, looked over his shoulder to see the familiar face of First Sergeant Flutter looking back at him from his doorway. "Yeah sarge," he replied as he packed another piece of equipment in his custom-armored battle shell, "I'm goin' back. This is what I've trained for, this is what's kept me going, and this," he stopped packing to look at the Sky Troopa he was addressing, "is what I'm gonna do."

Flutter's face, usually a mask revealing no emotion at all, was a mosaic of surprise and disappointment as he stepped into the small one-room hut carved into a cliff wall. "I'd be lying," he began, "if I tried to say I  
understand, Jagger. I mean, you'll be leaving your home where peace is the norm, and going to work in the army of an oppressive monster with-"

"King Bowser," Jagger interrupted, "is not an oppressor or a monster," he paused, as if he was unable to say what was on his mind, "and this isn't my home."

Flutter's eyes darkened. "Believe that if you want," he warned, "but remember, I was in Bowser's honor guard, I've seen what he's really about."

The two Koopas stared at each other for several minutes, neither one saying a word, each looking for a weakness in the other's argument.

"Jagger," Flutter finally said, "you're a good man, I hate to see you making a decision you'll regret later." And with that, the First Sergeant turned on his heel and stepped out the door.

Jagger tried to start packing again, but he couldn't get his mind off his short conversation with Flutter. Jagger had always seen Flutter as a Koopa who understood duty and loyalty, but if that was so then how could Flutter be so blind? He had seen Bowser first hand and he still wouldn't accept what an honorable king he was. What's worse, Jagger thought, was that this meant we could even wind up on opposite sides in a full-blown war! It was a well-known fact that Monstro Town was in close contact with the Mushroom Kingdom, and the Koopas were absolutely bent on conquering the Mushroom Kingdom at all costs.

Well, thought Jagger sternly, that's just how it'll have to be, and he began packing again. At least, he was about to when a hubbub of noise from out in the town square attracted his attention. Curious, he went  
outside to see. What he found was a gathering of people all trying to see over each other's heads toward Bowser's Keep. Weird, thought Jagger as he climbed up on top of his doorway and looked. Jagger did a double-take as he saw what everyone was looking at. It was a large black mass moving along the ground toward Monstro Town. No, Jagger corrected himself, it was an army of  
small black...

... BOB-OMBS!

"Do you see them, Jagger?" Flutter said from above him, "Do you see the  
army coming our way?"

Jagger nearly fell off of his perch atop his doorway at the interruption. "You could've warned me you were flying around up there," Jagger rebuked as he looked up to see Flutter, "and yeah, I see 'em. Must be some kind of ambassador's escort or something. Either that or they're headed to Barrel for training."

Flutter rolled his eyes. "Jagger," he groaned, "do you know what a Bob-omb is? It's a walking powder keg programmed to self-destruct and destroy whatever it can by doing so. You don't train it and you don't send it to escort ambassadors," there was a deadly earnestness in his voice as he added, "and they're not headed to Barrel, they're headed to Land's End. And do you know what the only possible target they could find in Land's End is?"

Jagger hesitated before answering, "Well, we're the only settlement here." He paused, still not accepting what Flutter was implying. "But why would Bowser send Bob-ombs here?"

Flutter didn't answer. Instead, he unfurled his wings, saying, "Think about what I told you earlier." Then, as an afterthought he added, "And I would advise you to prepare yourself for battle." With that he flew off to prepare his troops for the confrontation he feared was at hand."

**

* * *

**King Bowser Koopa looked down from his command room at the invasion force steadily marching toward Monstro Town. _This_, he thought with maniacal glee, _will teach them to go AWOL on me!_ Bowser grinned at the prospect of 500,000 Bob-ombs marching into a sparsely defended town of defectors. _The only defense they had was that ridiculous Sky Troopa wing_, Bowser thought back to the first time he'd entered Monstro Town, _and Flutter won't know what hit him!_ Bowser clenched his fists as he remembered Flutter, the elite Sky Troopa who had mysteriously vanished six years ago, was presumed dead and had been given a hero's funeral. Bowser fumed as he remembered what had gone through his mind when he first saw Flutter in Monstro Town along with an entire town of Koopa soldiers who had fled the Koopa Troop searching for peace. _Well, let them enjoy their peace_, Bowser thought, _his heart filled with hate, while it still lasts. _"Ludwig," he called to his eldest son, "prepare your doomship for departure," he grinned evilly as he added, "you're going to send the citizens of Monstro Town a little appetizer before we run those Bob-ombs down their throats!"**

* * *

**"I'm telling you," Flutter stood up in the town meeting to say, "they're on their way here and we need to prepare." 

"I am in agreement with the First Sergeant," came the surprisingly powerful voice of Jinx, the tiny dojo master, "the storm respects no fool. If we fail to prepare ourselves-"

"But what if it isn't an attack?" Jagger interrupted, "What if this is just some sort of display of power?" There was murmuring as the crowd heard this.

"You're forgetting, Jagger," Flutter interrupted, "that isn't Bowser's way. He attacks unforgivingly, he doesn't take prisoners, and he doesn't display his power unless he's-"

"Sergeant Flutter," came the urgent voice of Flatton, Monstro Town's resident Thwomp, "there's something happening in Seaside! Come quick!"

"I'm on my way!" answered Flutter as he ran out the door with half the citizens of Monstro Town on his heels, eager to see what the ruckus was about. However, Flutter and Flatton, both of whose species' were predisposed to the air, were much quicker, and able to leap to higher ground from which they could see Seaside.

"D'you see it?" inquired Flatton.

"Yeah, I see it," answered Flutter ominously, "a Koopa Imperial Doomship. And it's already on the ground."

"It's a good bet," Furthered Flatton, "that they're mounting an invasion of Land's End from that side too."

Flutter nodded his agreement and leapt down to tell the others. "What Flatton and I have just seen," he called, silencing the crowd, "is a doomship landed at Seaside." He paused to let that sink in before continuing, "I think it's fairly obvious now that Bowser's motives are not friendly. Now, when they get here, I say we prepare to give them a welcome they won't soon forget! Who's with me?"

There was unanimous cheering from the crowd below. Unanimous, that is, except for one Terrapin standing on the outskirts of the crowd wondering how the situation could have gotten so out of hand.

**

* * *

**"Okay Kooky," Jazzman von Koopa said as calmly as he could manage, "explain to me why we're here again." 

"I have already explained our motivation to you," his twin brother Ludwig sighed, "however, it is highly unlikely that explaining one more time would be hazardous to my health. We are blocking the escape route from Land's End as part of a bilateral tactical assault on the settlement of Monstro Town."

"Uh huh," Jazzman replied slowly, "and what'd these cats do to us?"

"They are rebels," Ludwig replied matter-of-factly, "they have departed without leave from the Koopa Troop because they are unwilling to serve in the armies of my father."

"So, they don't think daddy-o's such a nice guy," Jazzman said nodding, " 'magine that." Jazzman paused for a moment to see if Ludwig would react. "I don't know, Kooky," he continued, "somethin' about this plan's just not jivin' the way it should. I mean, we're just goin' to pick up and shoot at these people just 'cause they're not workin' the same gig as us, and you think everything's swingin'?"

Ludwig paused to consider what his brother had just said. Apparently, Jazzman noticed, because he started badgering Ludwig again.

"Kooky," Jazzman said to his brother's face, "I can tell your heart's right, but your heart and your head ain't in the same key, and it's makin' the music sound harsh, bro."

Ludwig looked at his brother for a moment, then looked away. "I have my orders," he said, ending the discussion. With that he walked toward his control panel and pressed the Intercom button. "This is Baron Ludwig von Koopa," he said into the mouthpiece, "all ground personnel prepare to disembark and begin your advance." Ludwig hung up the mouthpiece and looked at his brother. "I have my orders," he repeated, "and I have every intention of carrying them out. You would be wise to do the same," and with that he turned and walked off the bridge of the doomship and onto the main deck, leaving Jazzman to consider what he should do now.

**

* * *

**"Hurry up there, you," shouted the ship's Commandant of Troops, a stout Rocky Wrench, "the Baron will be here any minute now, and I want you all armed and in formation at the boarding point when he does. Now move!" 

"Is there a difficulty of some kind, Commandant?" came Ludwig's voice from behind him, "Because if you are unable to motivate your troops to do their duty then I may be forced to replace you," he raised his voice so all present could hear him, "with somebody who will find new ways to motivate them!"

There was silence on deck as the Commandant stammered, "N... no, no sir, B... Baron sir," and turned to face the uneasy battery of ground troops. "Now you heard the Baron, MOVE!" The troops obviously needed no further prompting as they hurried about their preparations.

Ludwig turned toward the nervous Rocky Wrench in front of him. "Excellent work, Commandant," he said in a tone in his voice that suggested the incident had never occurred, "how do you do it? Now I want this battery of troops deployed within the hour so we can liftoff and advance to Monstro Town. It would serve no tactical purpose for a doomship to arrive after the Bob-ombs have already completed their assault."

Suddenly, a blue-shelled Paratroopa came running up to Ludwig bearing an official-looking sheet of paper. "Baron," the turtle shouted, "incoming report from headquarters." The turtle handed the paper to Ludwig, who read over it carefully, his face a noncommittal mask as he did. "Commandant," he clipped as he finished, "Belay that previous order, we're moving our timetable forward. We depart immediately."

**

* * *

**"Sergeant Flutter," called Flatton as the first wave of Bob-ombs poured over the cliffside into Monstro Town, "they're here!" 

"Already?" roared Flutter incredulously, "How? Never mind, just get yourself and these other civilians indoors. Double-time there!"

Flutter's next command was cut short by a deafening series of explosions as the Bob-ombs hurled themselves against the walls of the cliff dwellings and self-destructed. Flutter looked at the top of the cliff wall to see rank upon rank more falling into the small town-square. He needed to think of something quickly, or the town would be overrun.

"Sergeant Hover," he called to the purple-shelled Sky Troopa on his left, "get the wing here, double-time!" Hover saluted and flew off to assemble the Monstro Town Sky Troopa wing. "And you," Flutter continued, "get these-" he was interrupted by a scream from the ground below. He looked down to see a circle of activated Bob-ombs closing in on a green-shelled Terrapin who was attempting to hold them back with a saber. He was putting up a valiant struggle, but the Bob-ombs were closing in, regardless, "JAGGER!" Flutter screamed, as if it were some sort of battle cry, and swooped down upon the scene. He kicked one of the Bob-ombs out of his way as he grabbed Jagger by the arm and lifted him off the ground just as the remaining Bob-ombs hurled themselves at the spot where Jagger was just standing and exploded.

"First Sergeant, are you nuts?" Jagger asked incredulously, "I mean, you just kicked an armed explosive out of your way! Do you know what could've happened?"

"I know what would've happened to you if I hadn't," Flutter replied as he set Jagger on the ground near the door to the bunkers inside the cliff, "and that wasn't an option, kid." At Jagger's puzzled look he added, "One day you'll understand that I didn't leave the Troop to betray my people, I left to save them from Bowser's betrayal." Having said this, Flutter flew quickly away to begin his counterattack on the Bob-ombs, leaving Jagger with a lot to think about.

Flutter looked around from his post high in the air. "Where are they?" he wondered out loud, "The Monstro Wing is supposed to be the fastest-" His thoughts were interrupted by the sound of beating wings. He looked behind him to see the valiant Sky Troopas of the Monstro Wing descending with explosives of their own upon the Bob-ombs still atop the cliff. "Yes!" he shouted victoriously as he swooped down to lead the assault.

"Glad you could join us, sir," greeted Hover as Flutter arrived, "for a minute we were worried that you might have gotten caught in an explosion."

"You can't get rid of me that easily," Flutter joked, "Now then, left flight, deploy, now!" As he said this the Sky Troopas to Flutter's left dropped their explosives on the Bob-ombs below. There was a brief pause, and a resounding BOOM as the explosives hit the ground and destroyed an entire rank of the walking death machines. "Odd," mused Flutter, "shouldn't they have exploded and taken out the rest when they got hit?" Flutter was about to fly low to take a closer look when a shadow fell over the battlefield. Flutter looked up to see a doomship gliding at low altitude over the town, cannons ready. As Flutter saw this he said the only thing his brilliant military mind could think of: "Oh, CRUD!"

**

* * *

**"Ludwig," Jazzman pleaded as he looked down from the bridge onto the helpless denizens of Monstro Town, "don't do this, please. If you start rainin' fire on 'em now it'll be a slaughter." Ludwig stood motionless at the controls. "Look," continued Jazzman, "haven't we done enough? I mean, the joint is packed with Bob-ombs, and there's still those cats we let off back at Seaside. There's no need to do this." 

"I am fully aware of the ramifications of the actions I am about to undertake," was all Ludwig said.

Seeing no way to convince his twin that what he was doing was wrong, Jazzman stood by, watching helplessly as Ludwig prepared to open fire on the defenseless town below. Finally, one last tactic came to him. But will it work, Jazzman thought as he watched his brother at the controls.

"Extend the main cannon." Ludwig called into the intercom mouthpiece.

It's worth a gamble, decided Jazzman. "If Aura were here," he murmured just loud enough for Ludwig to hear, "she'd have a fit."

Ludwig paused what he was doing at the mention of Karma's name. "What... what did you say?" he asked, turning to face Jazzman.

"I said," coaxed Jazzman, "that if your fiancée was here, she'd go nuts at what you're about to do, daddy-o." Jazzman stared at Ludwig for a few seconds that seemed like hours, waiting for his reply.

At length, his reply was cut-off by the voice of the ship's gunner over the intercom. "We are prepared to fire, Baron," he boasted, "and awaiting your orders." Ludwig stared at the intercom as if he had never seen it  
before. "Sir," came the gunner again, "we cannot fire without your orders." Slowly, Ludwig stepped over to the intercom and picked up the mouthpiece.

This is it, thought Jazzman, c'mon, Kooky, say it. Just say "abort" and it'll never've happened.

"Transfer weapons operations to the bridge," commanded Ludwig, "I will control the firing process myself."

Jazzman's heart sank in despair. He was about to do it. Ludwig was about to slaughter an entire town full of innocents, and there was nothing he could do about it. Well, thought Jazzman, daddy-o sent me to play along on this gig to learn how they swing here, and I'm learnin' more than I really wanted to. Maybe the cats back at Yoshi's Isle were right about these people.

Ludwig raised the targeting mechanism to his eyes and scanned the battlefield below until he found a suitable target, and pressed the button on the controls marked "Lock."

"Target acquired," came the computer's voice, and Ludwig hit the Fire  
button. "Firing in three...  
...two...  
...one..."

There was a thunderous roar as a terrifyingly powerful energy bolt shot through the barrel of the main cannon and struck the ground below, followed by an Earth-shaking Ba-BOOM!

Despairingly, Jazzman moped to the window and looked down on the town to see...

... What, he thought as he gazed upon a huge crater at the top of the cliff containing the charred remnants of a Bob-omb battalion.

"Kooky, what-" Jazzman stammered, "I mean, I thought..." he looked at his brother, confused, "So how're ya goin' to write this one off?"

Ludwig looked absent-mindedly away as his hand found its way to the targetter. "Oops," he murmured as he ripped the focussing mechanism out and hurled it out the nearest garbage chute, "it would appear that an individual has sabotaged the weapons array. Oh well." he looked at Jazzman, grinning, and Jazzman grinned back as Ludwig pointed his doomship back toward Seaside to gather the invasion force and return to Bowser's Keep.

**

* * *

**"Is everyone alright?" Flutter inquired as he stepped into the residence of Goomb, the shopowner. 

"Just fine, First sergeant," Goomb answered nonchalantly, "we've been prepared for this day since Bowser first discovered we were here." He walked over to one of the solid-rock walls and commented, "These are six feet thick!"

"It looks like you had more insight than anyone in the town," Flutter mused, "Did you ever think of joining the regiment? You're just the kind of leader we need."

"No," Goomb disagreed, "We already have just the kind of leader we need, General."

"General?" Flutter looked confusedly at Goomb, "No, I... I-"

"I think," interrupted Goomb, "that protecting the town against a half-million Bob-ombs is grounds for a battlefield commission."

"I second that," came a voice from the door. Flutter turned to see Jagger holding two shoulderboards each bearing four silver stars, with Hover and Flatton standing on either side of him. "And I'll tell you, General," he continued, "that the town has already voted on this, and the vote was unanimous. So," he began a standard Koopish commissioning speech, "by order of the citizens of this settlement of Monstro Town, you, First Sergeant Flutter, are hereby requested and required to accept the rank of General, with all the authority thereof, effective immediately." Jagger stepped toward Flutter, placed the stars in his left hand and snapped to attention. "Present," he called over his right shoulder, "ARMS!" Hover saluted, and Flatton, having no hands or arms, remained motionless.

Flutter clicked his heels together and returned the salute. "I hope," he began, "that I can count on my board of command here," he motioned toward Jagger, Hover, and Flatton, "to help prepare the town in case this happens again." He turned and looked sternly at Jagger, "But then again, I suppose you'll be returning to the Koopa Troop, won't you?"

"No sir," Jagger shook his head, "You were right about Bowser, and I can't believe I didn't realize that." he paused before adding, "And you were right about something else."

"What's that?" Flutter inquired.

Jagger smiled as he answered, "This is my home."


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter Three: A Matter of Loyalty

"Ack!" screamed Ludwig von Koopa as the thruster fired and a flame ignited in the maintenance hatch, narrowly missing his hair. "Aura, turn it off!" There was a humming sound and the thruster deactivated. Ludwig slid out of the maintenance panel of his doomship, _KDS Amadeus_, and sighed. "It would appear," he began wisely, "that the problem is not in the reverberating nitrocarbonizer, and that repolarizing that device was an unnecessary and harmful modification."

"Gee," Aura barked "who'd-a guessed? Oh, that's right, I DID!"

"Well, I thought it wise to investigate every possibility," Ludwig countered. "However, now I think we should consider reversing the lodestone of the gravimetric-"

"Oh, for heaven's sake!" Aura snapped and stormed up into the maintenance hatch. "Kooky, get your carcass up here!" she shouted after a moment.

Ludwig sighed and climbed up the steel ladder into the maintenance hatch. When he got to the hatch he was greeted by a very disgruntled Aura holding a half-melted socket wrench. "I found this in your Jet drive," she explained.

Before Ludwig could come up with a reply he was rescued by a high-pitched voice from the floor of the hangar.

"Hey," shouted Lemmy, "are you through up there?"

"Yeah," Aura yelled, "this idiot and I are through!"

"Well," Lemmy replied, "King Dad needs to see you two in his command room right away." Having delivered his message, Lemmy went about his ballriding.

Aura and Ludwig looked at each other in disbelief. "Did he just say both of us?" Aura asked half-believingly.

"I believe so," Ludwig answered, shocked. "Let's go investigate."

"Right," Aura agreed, and the two hurried away to see what King Bowser wanted.

**

* * *

**King Bowser Koopa paced the floor of his command room impatiently. Where are they, he thought, what's taking Lemmy so long to deliver a simple message? 

He stopped momentarily to look out his window into the doomship hangar and saw two people running toward the elevator to where he was. One was a fairly tall Koopa with wild blue hair that billowed behind his head as he ran, and the other, he thought with disgust, was a halfling: half red-shelled Koopa, half Yoshi. _Well, he thought, it's about time those two got here_.

"So," came a rich baritone voice from behind him, "what's swingin', daddy-o?"

"Keep silent, Jazzman," Bowser snapped at Ludwig's twin, "you will be informed when your brother and his freak arrive."

"Sheesh," Jazzman murmured, "ya haven't got to be such a square."

At that moment the elevator door opened and Ludwig and Aura stepped into the command room.

"There you are," Bowser barked, "sit down."

Ludwig and Aura took their usual seats at Bowser's conference table. Ludwig sat at the end closest to Bowser's seat and Aura sat at the opposite end, right next to where Jazzman was sitting by chance.

Bowser looked to see that they were all seated, then took his seat and began. "As you all three probably know, the Mushroom Kingdom has offered severe resistance to our advances. Without our vast military power we wouldn't stand a chance against the Mario Brothers' defense." He paused to let that sink in while mumbling something about General Flutter, then continued. "Which brings me to my point. The spearhead of our military is the doomship fleet. However, we are getting to the point where there just aren't enough doomships to be everywhere they are needed. With your ship, Ludwig, in the hangar for repairs and modifications, and mine," he sneered, "well, we all know what happened to my doomship."

"Izzat the wreck off the coast of Yoshi's isle that fell outta the sky a few years back?" Jazzman asked earnestly. Aura stifled a snicker at the look on Bowser's face.

"Yes, Jazzman," Bowser growled menacingly, "now be quiet!"

Jazzman jumped, surprised at the rebuke over what seemed like a simple question.

"Anyway," Bowser continued, cooling off, "the obvious solution is to build more doomships. However, the problem is that the law states only a member of the royal family may command a doomship, and we're running low on members of the royal family. Clawdia could take one, but she doesn't want any part of the war. We can't seem to raise mine to the surface, and I'd lose a lot of face if I ordered a replacement built," Bowser paused, apparently reluctant to say what came next, "which leaves me with only one option:" he looked at Aura and Jazzman and continued, "you two."

Aura and Jazzman were both taken aback by this. "Ya mean," Aura inquired, "you're actually starting to trust us?"

"No," Bowser snapped back, "but I have no choice." He took a deep breath and was all-business again. "You have three days to prepare a design and submit it to Ludwig. After that you have two weeks, assuming it meets standards, to complete construction using whatever resources you need. The ships may be equipped with one Power-up for emergency use only. Is that clear? Thank you, you are all dismissed."

They all got up to leave, shocked at what they had just heard. "Not you Ludwig," Bowser called to his son. Ludwig turned, walked back into the command room, and stood in front of Bowser.

"Yes, father," Ludwig said formally.

Bowser looked around to make sure no one was listening, and whispered, "I want you to be aware, son, that I will be watching your actions very closely."

Ludwig furrowed his brow. "What do you mean?" he asked, puzzled.

"I mean," Bowser growled, "that every time I send you and your twin on a mission together you suddenly become prone to errors, errors that effect the outcome of the mission, such as," he took on a mockingly innocent tone of voice, "a malfunction in your targeting system. A malfunction, I might add," he roared, "that destroyed our entire invasion force and enabling the survival of the Monstro Wing (or should I say Regiment now?), squandering our advantage of surprise, and prompting Flutter to declare a full-scale war against us!"

Ludwig forced a shocked look onto his face. "Are you implying," he asked innocently, "that I knowingly and willfully sabotaged my own vessel in an attempt to eradicate our own personnel and cause a crucial mission to fail?"

Bowser narrowed his eyes until they were glowing yellow slits before answering. "I am implying that your explanation was very suspicious, and this kind of sabotage is treason. Nor would it be the first time you have committed an act of treason, and I will not let another incident go unnoticed. Is that clear, Baron?"

"Perfectly clear, father." Ludwig answered neutrally.

"Excellent. Dismissed." Bowser said curtly. Ludwig nodded his head once and walked out the door. Bowser was almost certain he heard Ludwig mumble "he's on to me" as he left the room.

**

* * *

**The wind blew fiercely over the sky world. Clouds blew past and the deck of the _KDS Crusher_ rocked from side to side as the ship swayed in the turbulent gusts. Just the way I like it, thought Roy Koopa, watching from the bridge as one of the Rocky Wrenches who served as his crew went tumbling over the side to his doom. It gets rid of the weak, and only the strong survive. Roy watched in anticipation as another Rocky tumbled from his post to the opposite side of the deck. Just before the mole-turtle reached the edge,  
however, he kicked off the railing and grabbed a solid pipe attached to the thruster system. Roy raised his eyebrows and nodded approvingly. _Not bad_, he thought, _if only the rest were like that_. He glowered behind his custom-made sunshades. _Unfortunately, they're not, and if we stay up here much longer I won't have much of a crew left._ "Prepare for landing," he called out over the deck, ignoring the PA system. Instantly, crewmen began scurrying to their posts, eager to put the vessel back on solid ground. 

"If you don't mind my asking, sir," came the basso-profundo voice of the Sledge Brother who was Roy's Commandant of Troops, "what are we doing up here on a day like this?"

"That's a good question." Roy answered flatly, "Why are we here? Why are we here when the war is everywhere else? Even that bookworm Ludwig's about to get sent on an attack run they say."

"Well sir," the Commandant spoke tentatively, "Ludwig's ship IS the best in the fleet. I mean, I'm sure you've heard stories of-"

"Yeah, yeah, yeah," Roy rolled his eyes, "I've heard all about the almighty Flagship _Amadeus_ and it's domination of the pipe maze. I've heard all about Kook's spectacular strategies, flyin' around up there in moves so showy that all the 'shrooms in Pipe Land knew a week in advance where he was gonna hit next. I've heard all about his daring, courageous attacks where all he did was waste tons of lead and brass blowin' away a bunch o' brush." Roy thought of the Piranha Plant infestation in Pipe Land and added, "And most of that brush was probably on our payroll! I mean, c'mon, let's face it: by the time Ludwig was through, there wasn't anything left to conquer. The 'shrooms didn't surrender, they abandoned the place. It's not like a bunch of water and dead grass was any more useful to them then it is to us."

"Well," the Commandant replied uncertainly, "Lord Bowser seems to think that Ludwig was responsible for the success."

"Of course 'e does," Roy barked, "all Ludwig had to do was sling some techno-babble about everything that made his ship 'invincible', and Bowser was hooked."

"We are approaching cloud level." Came the voice of the ship's helmsman, cutting Roy's tirade short.

"Brace for turbulence!" Roy bellowed over the noise of the ship, ignoring the PA system once again. "Helm," he said to the crewman at the control panel, "take 'er through." Roy braced himself for the nauseating yet exhilarating feeling of cloud descent. As the _Crusher_ began its passage through the low gray clouds, Roy had a sudden epiphany. "What if," he half wondered out loud and half asked his Commandant, "we didn't wait for our orders?"

The Commandant's brow furrowed as he countered, "I'm not sure I follow you."

Roy turned and looked into the Commandant's eyes. Something about the look on Roy's face said that the last question had been a rhetorical one, and Roy's mind was made up. "Prepare the supersonic engines," Roy commanded, confirming the Commandant's suspicions. "We're gonna follow Kooky whether he likes it or not."

**

* * *

**"Okay, Ludwig, one more time," Aura sighed as she looked across Ludwig's workbench at the plan for her new doomship, "what if the thrusters were here, and this cannon was moved back in front of the cabin?" 

Ludwig seemed lost in thought for a second. "That is better, but where will the rear ship-to-ship weapons battery go?"

"Right where it is, you idiot!" Aura barked. "What difference does it make if there's a Bill Blaster blocking the path through?"

Ludwig raised one eyebrow. "That is a very tactically sound defense, at least at a glance. But you have to design the ship so _intruders_ cannot board the ship but _you_ still have a safe way through."

Aura rolled her eyes. "Kooky," she groaned, "I'm only going to be going through the defense lines when the ship is docked, and the cannons will be off," she paused, waiting for Ludwig to find something wrong with that logic. Finally, she just leaned over onto the workbench sleepily and murmured, "Well, I think I'm done."

"Yeah," Jazzman chimed in, "we've been sittin' here for twelve hours straight workin', daddy-o. I think-"

"Twelve hours," Ludwig scolded, "and you have already become exhausted? I was occupied for three days in their entirety planning the layout of _Amadeus_." He sighed at the disinterested look on the faces of Aura and Jazzman. "But I suppose these plans are sufficient. I will send them to Father, and I'll have three divisions of troops assigned to constructing the vessels."

"Swingin'," Jazzman said, getting up out of his seat and stretching. "Hey Kooky, I've got just one more question. Why are we doin' this? I mean, what's Bowser's big rush to put us in the command seat?"

Ludwig looked away. "I... I know why," he said under his breath, "but you wouldn't like it if I told you."

"What was that?" inquired Aura.

"I must report back to Father," Ludwig announced, dodging the subject. "I will have the builders at work by the end of the day." Ludwig then stepped out the door and quickly strode down the hall to Bowser's command room.

In Ludwig's workroom, Aura and Jazzman looked at each other, confused.

"What was that all about?" Aura wondered out loud.

**

* * *

**Bowser looked up from the stack of papers in front of him as the door to his command room opened. "Ah, Ludwig," he greeted, "just who I needed to see. Are they ready?" 

Ludwig placed the two proposed schematics on Bowser's desk. "I think you will find these to be adequate. As you see-"

Bowser waved the issue off. "Skip it, I trust your ability to decide if a doomship is airworthy. Now, what we must discuss is this: ... Uh, do sit down, Ludwig."

Ludwig pulled a chair out from under Bowser's desk and sat across the desk from him.

"I want you to take your ship," Bowser said with his hands clasped in front of him, "and lead those two on their first mission once their ships are built. Your target will be-"

"Yoshi's Island," Ludwig interrupted with a sigh, "I overheard you and Kamek engaged in discussion over it."

Bowser was taken aback. "W... well," he stammered, "I see. Then you already know that I'm going to be watching to see if you or either of them tries anything." He leaned across the desk toward Ludwig and snarled, "And If I see any of the three of you so much as breathing without direct orders, I'll have all three of you, and the crews of all three of your ships, put to death. Is that clear, Baron?"

Ludwig swallowed hard. "Perfectly clear, Father," he whispered.

Good," Bowser grinned, "now you are dismissed."

Ludwig stood up to leave.

"Oh, there is one more thing, Ludwig," Bowser said as an afterthought. "I would suggest you check your targeting system before you leave. I would hate for a systems malfunction to give me the 'false' impression that you were committing an act of rebellion."

Ludwig paused, then strode out the door, leaving Bowser to his paperwork. Bowser was about to go back to reading failure reports from remote divisions when his intercom system beeped. "This'd better be important," he growled and picked up the mouthpiece. "If this is not a report of the unconditional surrender of Mushroom Kingdom I'm hanging up!" he shouted as he lifted the mouthpiece.

"S... sorry sir," came the voice of a very confused Troopa on the other end, "but the _Crusher_ is requesting landing clearance."

Bowser paused, wondering if he should check the intercom system for malfunctions. "Can you run that past me again?" he inquired.

**

* * *

**"Whaddaya mean, 'refused'?" demanded Roy. "You mean they won't even let us land?" 

"The Hangarmaster is saying we don't have clearance to dock here," answered the communications Lieutenant, a yellow-shelled Troopa, "and that we're supposed to be on active duty in Sky World."

"I know we are," snapped Roy, "but we..." he paused to think of a way to justify his presence, "we're here to pick up supplies and to," he paused, searching for a better excuse, "and to escort the _Amadeus_ to its target. Tell them that."

The Lieutenant nodded and picked up the headset-and-mouthpiece connected to the off-ship radio and repeated, "Hangar, this is _Crusher_, We request clearance to land and take on supplies to escort _Amadeus_ on its next mission." There was silence as he waited for a response. After a moment his eyes widened in shock, and his forehead wrinkled in confusion. "They say," he said uncertainly to Roy, "that the _Amadeus_ already has two escort ships."

"What?!" Roy screamed, causing the windows of the bridge to rattle. "Who? The other doomships are all off on the Mushroom/Koopa border. Who else could it be?"

"Hangar," the Lieutenant asked slowly, "request clarification: who are the commanders of those two escort ships?" There was a long silence before the Lieutenant's jaw gaped open in what could have been either shock, horror, or disbelief.

"What is it? What is it?!" Roy rushed.

"Th... the commanders... are..."

"Well, who?"

"A... Aura and Jazzman."

The bridge crew learned a new definition of the word 'silence' as not even a breath was drawn. Roy clenched his fists as he got over his initial shock, and narrowed his shaded eyes so tightly it seemed his eyes would pop. "Where are they going?" he demanded through gritted teeth.

The Lieutenant picked up his receiver and asked the hangarmaster that question. "Yoshi's Island," he reported. "A... and..." he added quickly, "we... we're getting a signal from Lord Bowser: Priority one, audiovisual, and on a secure channel. He wants to speak directly to you, Prince."

Roy's jaw hung open for a moment. "Uh, put 'im through to my cabin," he ordered as he ascended the short flight of steps to his private cabin.

Bowser was already waiting impatiently upon Roy's viewscreen when he got there. "And just what do you think you're doing?" he roared, "I thought you were defending the Sky World."

"Defending it from what?" Roy shot back. "Nimbus-Land troops? I don't think so. Who would want the place?"

"That's beside the point, and none of your concern. I am the strategist here, I will give the orders," Bowser said, ignoring Roy's complaint. "And I already have two ships to escort the _Amadeus_. At least I will in two weeks."

"Two weeks?"

"Yes. That is how long it takes one of Ludwig's engineer battalions to construct a doomship, and he has one on each design." Bowser grinned, baring his deadly teeth. "Now as for you, I'm ordering you back to your post. You have 24 hours to gather whatever," he cleared his throat, "supplies... that you need, and get back to Sky World. Koopa Castle out!"

Bowser vanished from the viewer, leaving Roy to stare at a blank screen. He stood dumbly for a while, doing just that, before sighing heavily and looking out his window at the burning torches atop the spires of Koopa Castle. _It's a grand sight_, he thought as he surveyed the flaming castle, towering above the surrounding fortresses and sub-fortresses defending it. _Yeah, it's grand, he thought with resolve, and if Ludwig thinks I'm gonna let him or his pep-squad destroy it with their screw-ups, he's got another thing comin'!_

**

* * *

**The doomships were completed right on schedule, and in two weeks Bowser was sitting in his command room staring out into the hangar at the newly refurbished _Amadeus_ and its escort vessels, _Radiant Raptor_ and _Orleans_. _Not bad_, he thought as he inspected the two new vessels from his perch, _now we can have them in the air by the end of the day_. He looked out his opposite window toward the front lines of the war against Flutter. _And once I've eliminated those gluttonous vermin, he raged, I'll send them for YOU, old friend_. He forced himself to remain calm, and looked back toward the hangar. It was then that there was a beep at the door. "Enter," Bowser commanded and Ludwig strode in. "Ah, Ludwig," Bowser greeted again, "I'm curious. Why haven't you informed your... erm... chief escorts that you will be launched today?" 

Ludwig looked at Bowser from the corner of his eye. "I... was not aware we were launching today."

Bowser looked surprised. "Well, of course you are," he said dryly, "why wait when we can launch now and eliminate those pests and move on to Monstro?"

"King Dad," Ludwig interposed, "why are we attacking Yoshi's Island? We could put the ships to much better use attacking Mushroom or Monstro defense positions."

Bowser's head tilted sharply up to face Ludwig. "Because," he answered, "I want to see if those two pests you have brought into the castle are loyal to the troop. If so, they can move on to Monstro Town and earn their fame as the heroes who put down a rebellion and saved the Empire. If not..." he hesitated, "well, I have no time for disloyalists, especially not in my own home. Do you understand, son?"

Yes, thought Ludwig sullenly, for the first time in my life I am beginning to understand. "Yes, Father," he answered compliantly.

"Good," Bowser said, with nor more emotion than if the question had been, 'have you filled the magma pits today.' "Dismissed." Bowser looked back toward the stack of papers in front of him. He had almost finished reading a paragraph describing an insurrection taking place in the Island World when he heard the "woosh" of the doors of his command room opening and closing as Ludwig stepped out.

**

* * *

**"Yoshi's Island?!" Aura screamed in horror. "You can't be serious!" 

"She's right, daddy-o," Jazzman nodded, "there's no way we're gonna attack Yoshi's Isle and that's that, scatcat."

Ludwig sighed. "Look," he said softly, "I understand that you two have emotional reasons not to want to go through with this mission, but the alternative is the immediate execution of ourselves and the crews of our ships."

There was silence for a minute before Aura shrugged and muttered, "I never liked my crew anyway."

Ludwig closed his eyes and mentally strangled Bowser. He did so not for forcing him to attack an island full of innocents, but for making him break the news of that attack to Aura and Jazzman. "If we do not carry out this attack," he said with a hint of an I'm-offering-you-an-alternative quality in his voice, "then Bowser will."

"Oh," mocked Aura, "that makes all the difference in the world. We have a choice between killing our friends or letting Bowser do it for us."

"No!" interrupted Ludwig. "You are not comprehending. If we go on this mission ourselves," he looked around to make sure no one was listening, "we can... take steps to ensure that the mission is... less than successful."

Aura and Jazzman were speechless. To sabotage a mission that was doomed to fail anyway and write it off as an equipment failure was one thing, but what Ludwig was suggesting was blatant insurrection. There would be no way they could show their faces in the castle again if they were caught.

"Are you saying," Aura asked in disbelief, "that we're going to launch today en route to Yoshi's Isle, and never come back, as in, just leave?"

"No." Ludwig replied, "I'm saying we will launch today, en route to Yoshi's Island, and land at our destination to establish a treaty between ourselves and the Yoshies. Then, we will begin planning our resistance movement against Bowser."

Jazzman grinned his one-toothed grin. "Now you're talkin' my language," he said excitedly.

"There's just one thing," Aura interrupted. "What about our troops? They're loyal to Bowser. Won't they try to..."

Ludwig held up a hand to silence her. "I have ensured that the crew compliments of all three ships consist only of troops more loyal to me than to Bowser."

Aura's jaw dropped. "It sounds almost like you've been planning this!" she exclaimed.

Ludwig's only reply was a nonchalant shrug. "Is it so? How quaint."

Aura and Jazzman looked at each other, then looked back.

"So," continued Ludwig, "are we all in agreement as to what must be done?" The vote was unanimous.

"Very well then, let us depart." And with that the newest rebel group in the Koopa Empire stepped into the doomship hangar to begin their first mission.

**

* * *

**"_Amadeus_ to hangar control," said Ludwig's Commandant over the radio system, "request clearance for departure." 

"Roger, _Amadeus_," the hangarmaster answered, "the sky is clear for your liftoff. Good luck."

"Thank you, hangar control." The Commandant sighed and put down the headset. "Helm, disengage docking clamps and begin engine ignition."

"Disengaging docking clamps," replied the helmsman as he carried out his orders, "starting engines."

The Commandant stepped toward Ludwig inconspicuously and whispered, "Y'think this'll work?"

Ludwig took a deep breath, making him look even larger and more intimidating standing next to the tiny Rocky Wrench. "I don't know," he replied, "but the alternative is to comply with Bowser. That, in my opinion, is not an option."

The Commandant nodded. He opened his mouth to speak, but he was cut short by the voice of the ship's communication Troopa.

"Sir," called the troopa to either Ludwig or the Commandant, "the sister ships have launched and we are clear of obstacles."

"Excellent." Ludwig commented. "Helm, set course for Yoshi's Island, Mach 6." He paused to look around at the capitol city before finishing. It would most likely be a long time before he returned. Finally, he swallowed hard and spoke the one word that would launch the most devastating rebel assault that  
the Koopa Kingdom had seen in decades: "Engage."

"So, we're underway?" asked the Commandant nervously.

Ludwig nodded. "Yes." He thought of a lie to reassure his Commandant. "And I have planned for every possible occurrance, so we should not fail."

The Commandant merely sighed and muttered, "Then why do I have such a bad feeling about this?"

**

* * *

**The Commandant of the _Crusher _looked up excitedly from his scanning screen. "Sir," he shouted jubilantly, "we've found them! Three ships, one of them _Amadeus_, on a heading for Yoshi's Island at Mach 6." 

Roy rapped his claws on the arm of his chair. "Plot a pursuit course," he ordered. "When Kooky makes a wrong move I want to know about it."

The Commandant saluted and passed these orders on to the Helmsman.

"Oh, and Commandant," Roy added as an afterthought, "hang back at least 20 kilometers. I don't want them to know we're following them, or they might not do anything."

The Commandant nodded and continued relaying orders. _Excellent,_ Roy thought to himself_, now as soon as we get in communications range I'll send a transmission to Ludwig saying that... yeah, saying that I have reason to believe those two THINGS are planning to foul up the mission. That'll give Ludwig a way out, there's no point in dragging him down with Aura and Jazzman. Then, he thought with a grin, those two are as good as bagged!_ Roy laughed at the sheer simplicity of the plan. It was almost too easy. It was  
as if...

... As if they had planned for _Crusher_ to be on them.

Roy dismissed the thought as rubbish. They couldn't have known. No, they were naive and trusting of their surroundings. Well, it would soon be their undoing.

**_

* * *

_**"Baron," wavered the voice of a very confused Rocky Wrench Commandant as the doomship squadron approached Yoshi's Island, "the _Crusher_ is approaching dead astern. She's hailing us, and Roy says it's urgent." 

Ludwig clenched his fists and pounded the arm of his chair. _Confound it_, he thought savagely, _so close and Roy has to befoul us with his presence_. "Put him on the main viewer," Ludwig ordered irately. In seconds, Roy appeared on the viewer, clearly alarmed. Apparently, his message was as urgent as he said.

"Kooky," Roy gasped, "you've got to turn back now. You need to return to the castle."

Ludwig raised an eyebrow. "Might I ask why?" he inquired.

"It's those two. They're traitors, Ludwig! They're going to try to link up with the Yoshies and start another war with King Dad."

Ludwig tried unsuccessfully to hide the shock from his face.

How, he thought, could Roy have known about that?

**

* * *

**Good, Roy thought at the look of horror on his elder brother's face, he's falling for it. Now to offer... assistance. 

"It's you they're after first, Ludwig," he continued his series of lies, "it's you they want out of the way."

Ludwig was clearly confused. "Come again," he said slowly.

"Your ship… is the most powerful," Roy explained, cringing at the admission. "They want to take you out using surprise and superior numbers so that you won't be able to fight them and the Yoshies off when they start making their move."

_Third base_, thought Roy as he watched every emotion from confusion to fury flash across Ludwig's face, _now if he''ll just listen to one more line..._ "I can help you, bro," he offered. "They don't know I'm here. I could take them by surprise. Y'know, we take them out before they take us out. It'll work, and we'll have put down a rebellion." Roy waited for Ludwig's response with bated breath.

Words cannot express Roy's shock when Ludwig shook his head and replied, "I'm sorry, brother, but I cannot let you get in our way. I will inform the other two that you have found us out and we will have to leave."

_Us? Leave?, _Roy thought. _It can't be. It was true? I thought I had made that story up! And Ludwig is with them? This is an outrage!_

Roy shook with fury as he began to make sense of Ludwig's words. "Well then," he rumbled, "then I'll have to get rid of this uprising myself. Cut transmission."

**

* * *

**Ludwig had barely enough time to realize that Roy had severed contact before the deck of the _Amadeus _rocked under the strain of a bombardment of cannonballs from the attacking vessel. "Return fire," he yelled over the alert klaxons, "drop to subsonic and prepare for close combat. Signal the squadron that-" 

Ludwig's words were cut off as the helm control station exploded, flinging sparks and flames around the bridge. As Ludwig struggled in vain to regain control he looked forward out the window to see a great mass of blue on the horizon before him. _No_, he corrected himself, _below me! We're going to hit the water! _

**

* * *

**"What's happening?" Aura screamed over the noise of alert sirens and computerized warnings. 

"Ma'am, the _Amadeus_ is under attack," replied the burly Terra Cotta who served as Aura's Commandant. "The ship was attacked from the rear and it just went down."

"Ludwig!" Aura screamed in horror, "On... on viewer!"

The viewscreen came on in time to display the nose of the Flagship striking the water, followed by the rest of the massive vessel. It took a moment before the ship surfaced again, revealing that the bridge had been struck by a cannonball, causing all control systems to go off-line. As Aura wondered what had done this the side of the _Radiant Raptor_ was pummeled with cannonballs from _Crusher_, giving her the answer. "Return fire," she ordered.

"We can't" informed her Commandant, "they just took out the weapons array." The Commandant looked at his flickering scanner reports and added, "And _Orleans _won't be much help either, she just lost her engines and she's going down."

A brief glance out the forward window at the _Crusher_, turning around to make a run back at its target, told Aura who their assailant was. "Roy," she muttered. Aura knew Roy, and she knew he was just the kind of person to do something like this, attacking his own allies. _Of course_, Aura reminded herself, _we're not his allies anymore, but how could he have known that?_

**

* * *

**"There's just one more," declared Roy victoriously. "Let's take 'er out!" 

"Aye, sir," answered the Commandant. In seconds the ship's myriad of cannons were bombarding _Radiant Raptor _once again. Roy grinned his bullying grin as he thought of Bowser's reaction.

"I'm sure to take Ludwig's place as the successor," Roy murmured, "and then, as soon as I put Dad out of commission..." Realizing he had said too much, Roy looked around to see if anybody had heard him. Fortunately, everybody was too occupied with the assault on the one vessel left that could have brought peace to the warring reptilian races. "Ahem... damage report:"

"She's going down," reported the Commandant, " just watch the screen."

Rightly enough, Roy looked up at the viewscreen to see Aura's ship falling from the sky with its engines ablaze. Satisfied with his victory, Roy turned his mind to other battles. "Set course," he commanded pompously, "for Yoshi's Island."

**

* * *

**All was confusion on the bridge of the _KDS Radiant Raptor_. Somehow, Roy had ambushed the squadron, crippled the _Amadeus_, and now the _Raptor_ and the _Orleans_ were dead in the water with no way to move or lift off until the engines were repaired. Everyone's mind was occupied trying to figure out how to get out of the mess they were in. Everyone's, that is, except Auras. 

Aura despaired as she watched _Crusher_ streaking toward Yoshi's Island. It was over, she thought. In a few seconds Roy would open fire on the defenseless island, and It would all be over. Aura began to sob as she thought of all the old friends who were about to lose their lives senselessly. She longed to throw herself into Ludwig's arms, the arms of the one who'd put his own life on the line to save hers, despite their differences, but she couldn't.

Aura tried to fight back sobs as she thought of Ludwig. She didn't know if he was even alive. The bridge of _Amadeus_ had taken a direct hit, Ludwig could easily have been killed by the explosion, or buried by debris, or any number of things. And now, she had no one left. She had already lost her parents, now she had lost her fiancée, and she would soon lose her home. Aura couldn't fight anymore. She buried her face in her hands and began to sob uncontrollably.

**

* * *

**Jazzman stared intently out the forward window, hoping that somehow Yoshi's Island would be miraculously saved from the wrath of the _Crusher_'s crazed commander. There was no one between Roy and the Island now, and Roy was only a mile or two off it. He was practically in firing range. 

Jazzman's heart sank as he strained his eyes to see the main cannon of the _Crusher_ extending. He despaired all the more when he thought of all the mighty vessel's remaining cannons that he couldn't see. This was it, he knew it. In a few short moments Yoshi's Island would be reduced to a flaming cinder. He couldn't watch, he just couldn't. He gritted his teeth and looked away.

"Just a few more seconds," he mourned, "just a few more seconds, just a few-"

There was a growing roar, followed by the sizzle of burning air as an energy weapon discharged, and finally a deafening BOOM! Jazzman's knees gave way as the thought of so many dead friends forced its weight upon him like a Thwomp had suddenly fallen onto his shoulders. Jazzman turned slowly back toward the forward window in time to see...

... "What?!" he wondered aloud at the sight of _Crusher_, its engines ablaze, spiraling headlong toward the wreck of Bowser's Doomship. Had it not been for his bewilderment at the sight, Jazzman would have laughed at the irony, but as it happened he didn't even notice. Jazzman began to go over the events of the last few moments in his mind when realization slowly came over him. "Of course," he whispered, grinning. "It's gotta be him!"

**

* * *

**One glistening, solid gold eye and its Koopish counterpart peered out from behind their owner's cover in the bushes Yoshi's Island. "That," the owner rumbled, "was a Koopaaaa dooooooomship. It would appearrrrrrrr that Bowserrrrrrrrrrrrrr is still onnnn the thrrronnnne, orr they would not attack an undefended Island. Therrrrrrre issssssssss noo honorrrrr in it." 

"You can't be sure that it's Bowser," corrected his companion, a tiny blue Yoshi, "Remember that the Koopas have not always shared your sense of honor."

The larger speaker clenched his fists. "That iss trrrrrue," he thundered, "and since that isss trrrrrrrue, I must see forrrrrr myself how things arrrrrrrrre on the mainland. I must seeeeeeee if my peopllllllllllle have  
turrrrrned theirrrrrrrr backs on Bowserrrrrrrrrrrr's pathetic ideals, orrrrrrrr if they arre still mindless sheep."

The Yoshi looked up at his companion. "Then what will you do, Monstro, if they are still sheep as you say?"

Monstro narrowed his one good eye. "Then if it happenssssss that they do rrrrrrrrremember Bowserrrrrrr and hiss waysssss..." a great gray arm reached out of the bushes, lifted a tree from its roots and shattered it in its mighty grip, "I will ensurrre that theeey rrrrrrrrememberrrrrrrrr meeee as welllllll."

**

* * *

**It was almost a full day before the four doomships had enough power to propel themselves through the water, at the orders of a most disgruntled Bowser, to a meeting location. When the ships had finally gathered, the four commanders assembled themselves in the conference room of the _Amadeus_. 

"Where is he?" muttered Roy. "Bowser should be here by now."

"If it weren't for you and your brainless attack on our ships he wouldn't NEED to be here!" Aura rebuked.

"And if it weren't for you and your little rebellion, freak," Roy returned, "I wouldn'ta had ta shoot at ya! All I gotta do is tell Bowser the truth about what you were all fixing to do out here and he'll have all three of ya thrown in the magma pits." Roy grinned his toothy grin.

Ludwig was perfectly calm as he responded, "And all I have to do is inform him that you fired on three doomships instead of attempting to capture them, standard procedure when an airship falls under rebel control, and he will do the same to you."

Roy's grin faded, but before he could think of a reply the doors slid open and Bowser stormed in in a fiery rage.

"What I want to know, Roy," he snarled, "is exactly what happened out here. I sent three, count them, _three_ doomships to attack an UNDEFENDED island, and FOUR turned up crippled off that island's shore! I want some answers here!"

Roy's mind raced. He hadn't thought that Bowser would be angry at HIM for following the three ships. "I... heard a... a distress call from _Amadeus_. The squadron was under attack by..." he recalled the mysterious discharge that had crippled his own vessel, "a plasma cannon, and it came from Yoshi's Island."

Bowser narrowed his eyes. "A plasma cannon?" he questioned slowly. "Where did the Yoshies get the kind of magic and technology that would require?!"

He turned slowly toward Ludwig. "Baron, I want to hear your side of this story. What in Morton's name happened?"

Ludwig afforded a quick glance at Roy, who looked back pleadingly. "He is correct," Ludwig lied, causing Aura and Jazzman's jaws to drop to the floor in shock. "We were assaulted by a plasma weapon of unknown origin, apparently fired from somewhere on Yoshi's Island. All three ships in the squadron were crippled, and we relayed an emergency distress beacon. It was to our good fortune that Roy had the foresight to follow us here in case we required assistance, because had he not, no other ship could have come to our aid. Unfortunately, the _Crusher_ was attacked upon its arrival by the same assailant that had ambushed us."

Bowser stood still for a moment, as if trying to decide if he trusted his two sons more than his instincts. "If what you have said is true," he said after a moment, "then the Yoshies have gained considerable power."

"Then maybe it would be a good idea to have them on our side, daddy-o," chimed in Jazzman. "I mean, plasma cannons are your biggest advantage. Your guard statues have 'em, your ships have 'em… but now you might have to face a FAIR fight. I don't think you want that."

Bowser glared at Jazzman, but made no reply. "I'll be returning to base shortly," he explained. "When I get there I'll send four towships to take you back. I don't want four more vessels wrecked out here." As an afterthought, he added, "Or three sons marooned in enemy territory." With that he snapped his fingers and disappeared in a flash of fire.

Roy stood, dumbfounded for a moment, and stared at Ludwig. "Why?" he asked. "Why are you helping these two? What are they to you?"

"It's about loyalty, dear brother," Ludwig responded tersely. "It's about loyalty."

Roy stood speechless for a moment, then turned to go back to his ship.

"What _I _want to know, Ludwig," Aura asked a little angrily, "is why did you lie to protect that slimeball?"

Ludwig looked back. "Had I told the truth, he would have been executed, but we all three would have as well. Would you rather have me lie to incriminate him?"

"I'm sure he wouldn't hesitate to return THAT favor!" Aura answered.

Ludwig merely shook his head calmly and said, "No, my dear, it is not that simple. As I told Roy, it was about loyalty. It all comes down to a matter of loyalty."


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter Four: Return of an Old Friend

Jagger surveyed himself in the mirror and sighed. This uniform was just not going to cooperate, he could see that now. First the boots had refused to accept a shine, and now the jacket wasn't going to fit over his shell. With a sigh, Jagger removed his armored shell and resigned himself to wearing the infernal Dress Green Coat by itself. _Well_, Jagger thought, _now let's see if it fits_. He looked at his reflection in his full-length mirror and saw that the coat fit perfectly when worn as it should be. There was just one thing wrong. "Argh!" Jagger bellowed as he removed the coat and hurled his shell at the doorway. "I forgot my battle-ribbons and medals!"

"I know you're a little upset, Jagger," came a baritone voice from the doorway of Jagger's cliffside home, "but does that mean I have to dodge armored shells every time I walk in the door?"

Jagger did a double-take at the interruption and saw General Flutter standing at the doorway holding the shell Jagger had tossed over his head. "Sorry Sarge," Jagger sighed, referring to Flutter by his nickname from his days as a First Sergeant, "I just... well, I just can't stand this uniform. I'm used to a battle shell- I mean, we were born with shells- but this ridiculous coat-"

"Is the dress uniform used in this regiment and I'm not going to have my Executive Officer welcoming a dignitary in anything less!" Flutter interrupted, ending the discussion. "Now, let's see if I can give you a hand with those medals."

"Right." Jagger agreed, placing his coat on the table in front of him and removing from the wall the gold-framed plaque that held his medals. "So Sarge, what's up with this ceremony?"

"I told you, We're welcoming an important dignitary- that citation chord goes on the left shoulder- and we're going to make sure we treat this as a formal greeting, which means dress uniforms, unfortunately."

"I know that, Sarge, but I still don't know who this 'dignitary' is supposed to be."

Flutter looked up from the uniform at Jagger for a moment before replying, "Alright, but keep this quiet. Monstermama is on her way back."

"Monstermama?" Jagger demanded, nearly ripping all three stars off of his shoulderboard. "I thought she was hiding from the Troop!"

"She is, and keep your voice down, genius. But the Troop is looking all over the world for her, and she's running out of places to run to. So, she decided this is the safest place for her, Besides, she said she had urgent information to deliver."

"I see," Jagger replied, fastening the last two medals onto his coat. "So, does she know that we've made a few... changes around here?"

"If you mean like rebuilding the city on terraces, no. But all the more reason she'd be safer here. Even if the Troop does find her and try to get to her, they're not getting into Monstro City without an airship, some heavy firepower, and an adept-level Magikoopa."

Jagger decided not to point out the fact that the Koopa Troop had all of the above. Instead, he buttoned his coat and looked at his reflection once more to check himself out, then continued. "So you think that she's coming here because she thinks we have time to be her personal bodyguards."

Flutter stood up straight and declared, "Think what you want, Jagger, but she is the owner of the land this city is built on. More importantly, she was one of the few people willing to risk her life to provide a haven for Koopa Malcontents, and we're going to make sure she feels perfectly welcome."

"Which leaves only one problem," Jagger muttered gloomily, "this uniform. It's too tight and the coat looks like a skirt."

"Maybe that's why it's called a _dress uniform_," Flutter jested, "Now come on, the Landlady's escort should be arriving in minutes." And with that, the two Koopa Generals stepped out the door of Jagger's cliff-home and onto the terrace overlooking Monstro City.

_It was a grand sight_, Jagger decided. The city had been carved into the side of a cliff face in such a way that the citizens could not be dislodged without a fight. The city could not be bombed from the air, because it was built almost vertically. It could also not be surrounded and besieged, because there were entrances at the top and bottom of the cliff, and besieging armies on both ends would not be able to communicate with each other. In addition to the fortified design, the city had also been shielded magically to prevent Magikoopa Adepts like Kamek from being able to effectively use their magic. Most importantly to the people of Monstro City, at the top of the cliff loomed the barbed electric fences and anti-airship Bullet Bill Turrets of Fort Monstro, preventing an enemy from sending, for example, an army of walking explosives to rain down from the top of the cliff. From the upper-level Terrace where Jagger's home was, one could see the entire city and the valley below, and it was a grand sight indeed.

"So how's she getting here, Sarge?" Jagger asked, "Does she have an airship?"

"She's being carried by a flight of Malakoopas," Flutter replied.

"Carried?" Jagger repeated, confused. "She's being carried, as in, manually picked up and carried?"

"There was no other way to get air transport for her, and ground travel was too risky and would take too long. So she agreed to this."

"Her information MUST be urgent," Jagger muttered, and the two generals walked up the flights of stairs leading to the landing pad at Fort Monstro.

**

* * *

**Jazzman von Koopa sat in his room playing his saxophone absent-mindedly, trying to get his mind off of the events of the past month. Trying, that is, to no avail. Jazzman had been, in the course of a month, placed in command of a doomship and ordered, along with Ludwig, his twin brother, and Aura, his sister-in-law, to attack Yoshi's Island. However, the mission that the three rebel Koopalings had intended to accomplish, to land on Yoshi's Island and establish a treaty with the Yoshi's, had been stopped by Bowser's third son, Roy, in an act of stupidity unrivaled in the history of the modern world. 

_Of course_, Jazzman thought, _that stupid move DID turn out in his favor this time... sort of_. But geez, Bowser's gonna be ticked when he finds out who fired that shot.

At that moment, there was a knock at the door. "C'mon in," Jazzman called. On cue, Jazzman saw the half-Yoshi, half-Koopa visage of Aura Koopa present itself at the doorway.

"So, Jazzman," Aura began casually, "what's up?"

"Not a lot," Jazzman replied, "just blowin' on my sax a little. What're you doin' here this time o' day?"

"Well," Aura answered, "I came here to ask you a couple of questions that've been weighing on my mind since we got back from the Yoshi's Island mission."

"Like what?" Jazzman entertained, putting his saxophone in its case.

"Well," Aura sighed, as if looking for just the right way to begin her interrogation, "what was it that shot down Roy's ship? I know you know."

Jazzman fell backwards out of his chair. "W... what?!" he stammered. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Oh c'mon, you mean to tell me that Roy's story about a plasma cannon from somewhere on Yoshi's Island is true?"

"You were there. Believe your scanners if ya don't believe me."

"I think the scanners were wrong." Aura leaned closer to Jazzman. "And I think you know what it really was. I mean," she leaned back into her chair as she spoke, "where'd the Yoshis get the kind of magic and machinery it would take to build a plasma cannon, let alone one so powerful it could take out the _Crusher_?"

Jazzman sighed and looked at Aura. She had always been able to tell when he wasn't telling the full truth. "Okay," he capitulated, "It's like this. Have you heard of Warlord Monstro?"

Aura nodded. "He's the one Monstro Town was named for."

"Right," Jazzman agreed, "but there's a lot more to that story. Y'see, Monstro was the top dog of the empire under Morton I, but he was kicked outta his position when Bowser took the throne. I guess Bowser was afraid Monstro's sense of honor'd get in the way of his plans. Anyway, for whatever reason, Monstro found himself unemployed, and he wasn't too happy about it. 'Course he was hoppin' mad when he found out that Bowser'd taken the throne by assassinating his father. He left the empire in a hurry, destroying everything of Bowser's he could along the way. That was when he set up a safehaven for people on the run from Bowser, or anyone who wasn't happy with Bowser's politics- especially if they were Koopas."

"And that's Monstro City," Aura interrupted.

"Right," Jazzman replied, "except it was Monstro Town then. 'Course, you already knew that. Anyway, after a while Monstro got tired of running a town, so he signed the job of running it over to a Toadswoman everybody called Monstermama. Three days later, he disappeared, and that's where the history books end the story. Now, here's the fun part." Jazzman looked around to make sure nobody was listening before continuing, "He left that day for Yoshi's Island, and he's been living there ever since. He's in hiding from Bowser, but all the Yoshies know about him. Now, I've seen the guy myself, I've even talked to him, and I remember that he always carried a plasma cannon around with him, mounted on a pistol grip. That cannon's so powerful that I'd bet a year's pay it could put a hole in the side of a doomship from a mile away. In fact, I'll bet that's exactly what happened; it was Monstro who shot down the _Crusher_."

Aura stared at Jazzman as if deciding whether she believed his story or not. However, she didn't get to make her decision because at that moment, Ludwig burst gasping through the door.

"Vee have a problem," he proclaimed, lapsing into his Romanian accent as he always did under extreme pressure, "Bowser's launching another attack on Monstro City, and it begins today!"

"Say what?!" Aura squeaked. "How? Why weren't we-"

"Vee are not being sent on this mission, Roy is leading it. He vill take the _Crusher_ and-"

"Calm down, daddy-o," Jazzman intervened. "Now, slowly, what's the buzz?"

Ludwig took a deep breath and explained, "Roy has been ordered to take the _Crusher_, the _Jester_, and the _Hot Rod_ on an attack mission into Monstro City TODAY! They will launch in two hours."

"Yeah, that qualifies as a problem," Aura agreed, "Can we warn Monstro City?"

Ludwig shook his head. "There is insufficient time."

"Why don't we sabotage the ships?" Jazzman suggested.

Again Ludwig shook his head, "No, we cannot get on board. The only way we will be capable of stopping them is with a direct assault from our ships." He paused before continuing. "The problem is..."

"That we'll blow our cover." Aura finished. "Great. So we have to either let them have Monstro, or come out of hiding and leave the castle permanently."

There was a period of silence as every eye fell upon Ludwig. "I am afraid so," he conceded.

Aura and Jazzman looked around at the castle. "Well," Jazzman sighed, "at least I don't have much to pack."

Aura nodded her agreement. "So we'd better start getting ready to launch now if we're gonna be ready in time to cut the invasion off."

Ludwig raised a hand to silence them. "There is one more detail," he began. "The invasion is being led by two Magikoopa Adepts."

"Two?" Aura asked, confused. "I thought Kamek was the only one in military service."

Ludwig shook his head and responded, "Bowser has ordered Adept Kammy to assist in this matter."

There was a general gasp of horror as that information was delivered.

**

* * *

**King Bowser Koopa could not have been more maliciously gleeful as he sat in his command room staring at the incoming video of Monstro City on his viewscreen. He had just met with the all clan leaders of the Koopa race, and he had successfully negotiated- at long last- the treaty that named him supreme lord of all Koopa clans, Emperor of the species. On top of that, he was about to crush the rebel stronghold that had been a thorn in his side for almost a year, and there were murmurs throughout the Empire that the Mushroom Kingdom was on the verge of being forced to surrender. _Life_, he decided, _is good. It will take more than those two pesky Humans to stop me now._

The thought of the Marios made Bowser stop short for a moment. They had been unusually quiet for the last several months. In fact, they had not conducted a single raid since...

... _since Jazzman came to the castle, he thought with a sneer. Perhaps there is significance to that. I'll have to consult that miserable freak later. In the meantime_, he grinned at the concept of his impending victory_, there is work to be done._

Bowser's thoughts were interrupted when the viewscreen suddenly changed from an image of Monstro City to the aged and twisted visages of two hooded, bespectacled old Koopas: Adepts Kamek and Kammy. "Guildmaster Kamek reporting, my lord," saluted the Koopa on the right, "our troops are in place. We are prepared to begin."

Bowser grinned. "Excellent," he snarled, "I'll deploy the doomship squadron immediately. As soon as they arrive, you are to begin your bombardment. Headquarters out." The two Magikoopa Adepts bowed and vanished from the screen. Bowser tapped a green button on the control panel in front of him and spoke into a microphone. "Roy, you and your brothers take your ships and rendezvous with the invasion force at Monstro City, now!"

In seconds Bowser was rewarded with the satisfying roar of supersonic engines powering up in the hangar below him, followed by three red streaks of light shooting off into the sky in the direction of the rebel fortress. Bowser leaned back in his chair and sighed with satisfaction. Roy, Iggy and Lemmy couldn't possibly fail this simple task, even if Ludwig had. After all, Roy may not have been as skillful a commander as Ludwig, but he was more ruthless, and attacked without regard to himself or his troops. He was certain to bring back Flutter's head on a plate. Now all that was left was...

... What the?

"What is that noise?" Bowser demanded of thin air as he attempted to determine the source of the rumbling sound coming from below him. "It sounds like a... but that's Impossible!" Bowser ran to his window in time to see three more red streaks departing at what he decided had to be Mach 4 in the direction of Monstro City. The Koopa King fumed as he stormed over to his desk and slammed his fist onto the intercom button. "Hangarmaster, what were those three ships that just left?"

"They were _Amadeus, Radiant Raptor_ and _Orleans_, sir," answered a very confused Koopa Troopa on the other end of the line. "Did you authorize that launch, my lord?"

Bowser breathed a deep sigh as the reality of what had been occurring since the last mission to Monstro City finally began to sink in. _I should have known_, he thought. _In fact, I did know, I just didn't believe it_. "No," he spoke to the Hangarmaster, "but don't worry about it. I'll take care of it. Bowser out." Bowser tapped another button on his control panel and picked up the intercom mouthpiece again. "Wendy," he spoke slowly to his only daughter, "I want you and your brothers to prepare for an emergency search-and-destroy mission. You're going to assassinate a rebel leader."

"Oh, nice," Wendy replied sarcastically. "Who's the target?"

Bowser gritted his teeth as he answered, "Baron Ludwig von Koopa."

**

* * *

**"Detail," Flutter called over his shoulder as the flight of Malakoopas carrying Monstermama approached, "attenTION!" Instantly, the heels of the ceremonial guard standing behind Flutter snapped together. "Alright boys," he whispered aside to his commanding staff, "the sooner we get through with this, the sooner we can leave." 

"And the sooner I can get out of this ridiculous coat," Jagger muttered.

A moment later the dust was blown off the landing pad by the flapping wings of descending Malakoopas. They descended in staggered rows of seven and five until the last rank had landed. Finally, a lone Malakoopa with a Toadswoman strapped to his shell landed and began to untie his peculiar burden.

"Finally," the Toad sighed, "that's the last time I fly THAT way." She paused to take a breath and her eyes fell upon Flutter and Jagger. "So," she greeted, "I see you two are still kicking around."

Flutter grinned and began his formal greeting. "Welcome to Monstro City. On behalf of the citizens of this settlement-"

"No need to bother with the protocol, General." Monstermama interrupted. "I've always preffered low-profile arrivals anyway. You didn't need to get all dressed up either."

Flutter glanced sheepishly at Jagger, only to be rewarded with a piercing I-told-you-so glare. "I... see," he stammered. "Well, please follow me. You did say you had urgent information, didn't you?"

"Oh, of course!" Monstermama exclaimed, snapping her fingers. "I almost forgot. General, you should be expecting a group of diplomats from the Mushroom Kingdom to arrive later today to discuss a plan to cripple the Troop."

"Uh... wha... what?!" the two generals stuttered in unson.

Monstermama nodded. "Mario and Princess Toadstool will be arriving today to review your regiment and inform you of some quote-unquote 'interesting information' their intelligence has gathered."

Flutter and Jagger stood dumbfounded for a second before Flutter managed to find the speech capacity to stammer, "I... see. uh, um, well, we'll prepare for their arrival. Please, er, follow me and I'll escort you to your room." Monstermama nodded and accompanied Flutter down the walkway into Monstro City under an arc of steel provided by the regiment's ceremonial guard.

When they were out of earshot, Jagger turned to Hover and Flatton, his two division commanders, and whispered. "I want you two to make sure that there is a full squad of armed guards at every entrance and exit to this city and the base as long as Monstermama and that reviewing party are here. If the Koopas find out they're all here, they'll launch an attack with everything they've got, so I don't want any spies getting in and finding out that we have 'guests'. Understood?"

"Yessir!' Flatton sounded off in the contrabass voice that all Thwomps possess. Hover, the Parakoopa commander of the regiment's air division, merely saluted.

"Excellent. Dismissed," Jagger commanded tersely. Hover and Flatton were in the process of leaving when the ground began to shake: lightly at first, but it only got worse. "Strange," Jagger commented, "there's not a faultline anywhere near Land's End." As he looked around to try to determine the source of the quake, he glanced in the direction of Bowser's Keep and saw something that made his skin crawl: the quake was being caused by the sonic boom from three doomships dropping to subsonic speeds, and they couldn't have been more than two miles away from the city. "Battle stations!" he shouted over the noise of the civilian population in the city below. "All citizens, take cover!"

In an instant Flutter appeared over the top of the cliff, accompanied by all the aerial troops he could pull together. "Take flight," he ordered, "engage any enemy Paratroopas on sight, but avoid the ships." As suddenly as they had appeared, the small force departed to try to stop a massacre like the one the city had narrowly averted before, leaving Flutter behind to command the base. "Jagger," Flutter shouted. Seconds later, Flutter's executive officer was standing beside him. "Jagger, I want you to make sure that all the civilians are indoors, then report back. This could get messy."

**

* * *

**"_Crusher _to all craft," ordered Roy Koopa from the bridge of his doomship as the squadron approached Monstro City, "break formation and open fire." The malevolent youth paused for a moment before adding with relish, "Target the civilian areas." 

"This'll be fun! Ehee hee hee heh heh heh," cackled Iggy, Roy's brother and commander of the _Hot Rod_, with maniacal glee.

"All I wanted to do was join a traveling circus," whined Lemmy in contrast from Jester.

"Oh, quit your blubberin' and start attacking!" barked Roy. "We're about to meet resistance, and I want as much damage done as possible before the old coots start their fireslingin'." He closed the comm link and sighed. If there were any two commanders who could foul this mission up, they had to be those two.

"Lord Roy," reported Roy's Rocky Wrench commandant, "we have incoming. Enemy Malakoopas at twelve o'clock."

"Deploy interceptors," Roy replied, "take 'em down."

No sooner had Roy's commandant echoed this order than the _Crusher_ rocked wildly from one side to the other, causing alert klaxons to go off all over the ship.

"What the...?" Roy demanded. "When did Monstro City learn to shoot back?!"

**

* * *

**"General," shouted a terrapin lieutenant as something disturbing appeared on his radar, "you'd better take a look at this!" 

In the blink of an eye, Flutter was standing behind the soldier staring at the radar. "Report," he instructed tersely.

"S-s-sir," the lieutenant stammered, "three more doomships just dropped to subsonic speed just outside the city. One of 'em's _Amadeus_, and I've never even seen the other two before."

"Terriffic," Flutter cursed, "bloody terriffic!"

"It gets better, sir." the lieutenant continued in a wavering voice. "If this radar is right, they just opened fire on the other three!"

"Just great," cursed Flutter again, "now they're..." At that moment the words began to truly register in Flutter's brain. "Come again, Lieutenant?" he half gasped, half shouted.

"I don't know why, sir," the lieutenant replied, his voice dripping with genuine confusion, "but they-"

The lieutenant was interrupted by a snarling _beep-beep beep_ from his console. He turned away from Flutter to see what bizarre thing had happened this time, stared at his reports in disbelief for a moment, and turned his gaze back toward Flutter. "S-sir," he slowly whispered, as if not believing it himself, "we're getting a radio signal from _Amadeus_, and it sounds like a warning."

"Well patch it through! Let's hear it, soldier!" Flutter answered.

In a moment, the unmistakable voice of Baron Ludwig von Koopa was heard over the command center speakers. "This is an advance warning to all citizens of Monstro City," the Baron stated with no more emotion than someone reading the weather. "You are about to be attacked by two Adept-level Magikoopas. I repeat, TWO Magikoopa Adepts. All citizens and personnel are advised to take shelter immediately."

"Order all citizens to the inner caves," shouted Flutter in horror. "Captain, raise the mage-sheilds! Colonel Draco, have your battalion-"

"General," the lieutenant interrupted, "We have a problem."

"What now?" Flutter demanded.

"He did say two Adepts, right?"

"That's what I heard, lieutenant."

"Well, sir, the mage-sheilds were only designed to withstand bombardment from one, and only for a short time. We can't possibly shield the city from two, and fight off a doomship squadron at the same time."

Flutter gritted his teeth, cursed again, and issued an order he never thought he would hear uttered in his regiment: "Get me the _Amadeus_ on a secure channel."

**

* * *

**The _KDS Orleans_ was under attack. The rebel ship had been the last one of the three to arrive in the sky over Monstro City, and the advantage of surprise had been squandered by the time it had arrived. Now, the only thing standing between _Orleans_ and the cannons of _Crusher, Jester,_ and _Hot Rod _was the quick thinking and force of will of Jazzman von Koopa. "Fire 'em up," Jazzman ordered his paratroopa commandant, "they're about to start shootin' again, let's not give 'em a chance to do any damage." 

The commandant saluted, passed on the orders, and braced himself for the inevitable jolt of cannonballs impacting the ship, and he was not disappointed. No sooner had the main cannon been extended when the ship shook violently and sparks flew from every control panel as concentrated plasma surged through the ship's systems, followed by the deafening 'Thumpa Thumpa Thud' of hundreds of pounds of lead crashing into the rebel doomship's wooden hull.

"Return fire: target the flagship," ordered Jazzman's commandant. Instantly, the ship's main cannon began to snarl its chilling snarl and a mighty blast of white-hot plasma mixed with pure magic poured forth from the weapon's maw. The blast was not forgiving as it burrowed into the side of _Crusher_, and Roy's monstrous doomship began to spiral off course, narrowly avoiding a collision with _Amadeus_. Sensing weakness, the _Orleans'_ cannoneers immediately began to ruthlessly  
pummel their former assailant with a plethora of lead and brass projectiles in an attempt to cripple the ship and give themselves a chance to focus on _Jester_ and _Hot Rod_.

Then, as Jazzman quickly took stock of the situation, the sky began to darken. Clouds covered the sun, bathing the land in darkness, and lightning lashed furiously at the ground around Monstro City. One by one, crewman and officer alike began to look up from their stations and stare openmouthed out the forward window. It took only a moment for Jazzman to realize, to his horror, what was happening. "Kamek," he muttered.

**

* * *

**

"Evasive maneuvers," shouted Ludwig, cutting General Flutter off, "avoid the darkened air mass." As the _Amadeus_ rolled sharply Starboard to avoid a blast of fire from the ominous darkness attempting to engulf it, Ludwig looked back at the viewscreen in front of him. "Are you still adamant, General, in claiming that I jest? The evidence is before your very eyes. Now I would advise you-"

"I don't need your advice, Baron," Flutter clipped, "I need you to get rid of those Magikoopas! I'll handle the doomships myself!" As if in testimony to Flutter's boast, a flight of Sky Troopas swooped across the deck of _Amadeus_ on their way toward the damaged _Crusher_.

Ludwig gritted his teeth. "We haven't the time for dispute, General," he snarled in a tone that would make his father cringe, "your city is under attack, and I am, quite simply, your only hope. Observe your almighty antiquated Sky Troopas if you doubt me." Ludwig adjusted his viewscreen to give General Flutter a glimpse at the Sky Troopa flight that had so valiantly assailed the _Crusher_, just in time to witness their merciless slaughter as bolts of Kamek's Black Lightning ripped through their ranks. Satisfied that his grim point was made, Ludwig returned Flutter's view to the bridge of _Amadeus_. "I trust, General, that you will now agree."

Flutter did not get to respond, because at that moment waves of Black Lightning ravaged the command post of Monstro City, cutting Flutter's communication line. "I guess they're on their own now," Ludwig's commandant commented flatly.

"Not yet, Commandant," Ludwig insisted, "not yet."

**

* * *

**Jagger pulled himself dazedly up from the ground. "Wh... what happened?" As he looked around and saw his Terrapin troops grappling with Koopa Imperial soldiers where only bricks had been until a moment before, he realized what had happened. "Kamek," he muttered. "Kamek and his transfiguration blasts." Fuming, he spotted an unlucky Imperial Troopa and charged it. It was dead before it realized it was being attacked. 

_We need to re-form_, Jagger thought as he took stock of the situation. _They've got us too scattered around to put up a fight._ In moments, Jagger charged to the highest ground he could find, drew his saber, and waved it against the darkened sky. His well-trained division of Terrapin soldiers recognized the signal and hastily fell-in behind Jagger, forming a block of armed and angry Koopa Rebels. The ragtag militia Kamek had managed to raise up from the bricks was no match, and they quickly fell. Satisfied that the current problem had been solved, Jagger looked around for the source of the trouble, and he soon found it. There, standing not 200 yards in front of him, guarded by a troop of Sledge Brothers, stood Kamek, with his eyes turned skyward at the aerial battle. Jagger grinned, thrilled at the prospect of an entire brigade against Kamek and his guard. He couldn't pass up an opportunity like that.

"Third Brigade," Jagger commanded, "saber, CHARGE!"

It took a moment before Jagger was rewarded with the sight of thousands of Armored Terrapins charging the small company of Sledge Brothers. In a few moments, they would descend on the Adept's guard like a flood, wiping out the lot of them- and just maybe, Jagger thought with relish, Kamek himself. Yes, there was a chance that this could be the Adept's last battle. Soon, Jagger thought, soon: Just a few more moments...  
...just a few more moments...  
...just a few...

Just at the moment when the rebel brigade was upon their target, the sky faded from black to a blinding red, and the ground began to rumble with a deafening noise like some great chained beast attempting to break free. Jagger's troops hesitated for only a moment at the unexpected turn of events, but it was a moment too long. Jagger's knees gave way as he watched the ground beneath the charging force open wide and swallow Rebel and Imperial alike, leaving only two grinning, hooded figures hovering over the gaping maw of the pit. One was Kamek, and the other...

Jagger felt like a cold ball of lead had been forced down his throat and into his stomach as he recognized the other as Kamek's former apprentice, the dreaded witch, Adept Kammy.

"RETREAT!" he shouted in a voice that was heard over the roar of plasma cannons and Bullet Bills overhead. "All personnel, return to base and take cover!"

Jagger turned, along with two brigades of Terrapins, toward the protective walls of Fort Monstro and ran like the very Abyss had unleashed its full fury upon the battleground. Before some of them had even had time to turn around, a torrent of red flame poured forth over the lead brigade, burning most of them alive. The lucky ones were dead before they knew what had hit them.

Few were lucky.

So this is how it ends, thought Jagger as he ran at the center of the retreating mob, swallowed by the ground, or burned to a crisp. Jagger had scarcely had time to wonder which it would be before another blast poured forth from behind over the entire corps of survivors.

_I pity the Reaper_, thought Jagger, _I pity the one who will have to tend this monstrous harvest._ He did not have to pity him for long before all was dark.

**

* * *

**"Ma'am," reported Aura's blue-shelled Parakoopa commandant, "the city's mage-shield is failing." 

"I know, I know," Aura hastily replied. Desperate for some way to give the besieged city one more shot, her eyes darted around the ground below until they found what they were looking for. "There!" she exclaimed, pointing at a vast chasm that had not been there a moment before. "Target that area with everything we've got!"

"Ma'am?" questioned her bewildered commandant. "Why that? It's just an impact crater."

"No," Aura corrected, "it's too deep."

The commandant was unconvinced.

"It's no impact crater," she explained, "and it wasn't there before, so that tells me it was magically created, and Kamek'll be nearby."

The commandant was still unconvinced.

"DON'T QUESTION MY ORDERS, PIG! I SAID FIRE!"

The commandant was convinced. "Target that chasm," he commanded, "and fire all weapons."

Instantly, the darkened sky lit up like noon, filled with plasma discharges and exploding Bob-omb canisters, all flooding into the jaws of the chasm that had swallowed an entire rebel brigade moments earlier.

Let's see Kamek's magic get 'im out of this one, thought Auraa with a gleeful grin that bordered on sinister.

**

* * *

**"What is that Imperial schizo doing?!" Flutter bellowed as he beheld the almost humorous spectacle of one of the mysterious "new" doomships opening full fire upon, well there was no other way to describe it: a big hole in the ground. "Doesn't that idiot realize what a waste of fire that is?" 

"General," cried one of two Terra-Cotta guards, bursting into the command room and interrupting Flutter's thoughts, "General, you need to take a look at this!"

Flutter started to ask what was so important that it should require his immediate attention in the midst of a battle, but the question was answered as he looked upon the disfigured face of a half-dead Terrapin brought in on a stretcher by the guards. Flutter stared hard at the Terrapin for a moment, trying to recognize the turtle, whose injuries were so brutal that even his shell, mostly burned away, hung on his blackened flesh only by the armholes. It didn't take long for the chilling reality to set in.

"Jagger!" he moaned in horror at the sight of his friend in this state. "How..."

Jagger, with great difficulty, raised a hand to silence Flutter. "I... i... it's Kamek," he stammered, "he's..." Jagger gritted his teeth and let out a howl of pain as he attempted to finish his sentence. "He's... landed. He's on... the ground, about..." Jagger gritted his teeth again.

"It's okay," Flutter coaxed, "take your time Jag, just-"

Flutter was cut off by a shower of sparks as the primary lighting system blew out, hit by a blast from Hot Rod, and the lights in the command room exploded.

"For King Morton's sake," cursed Flutter as the emergency lights came on, "can't you keep that forsaken swine off me for just a minute?!" Flutter took a deep breath, turned to Jagger, and continued. "Okay, Jag, I need to know, how far is Kamek from the city?"

"About a mile..." Jagger wheezed, "a mile... outside the sh... shield perimeter and... and... c... closing."

Flutter paused a moment and mouthed a quick prayer, then began again. "Who's in charge in your place?"

Jagger only looked bewildered.

"Your division," Flutter clarified, "who's in charge of it now? I need to know, Jagger."

"General... F... flutter," Jagger coughed after almost a minute's silence, "I have no division."

"What do you mean 'you have no division'?" Flutter demanded. "You went out there with three brigades behind you, now who's in command of them?"

"D...d..." Jagger started to speak, but the pain was so intense that he could scarcely even force out a syllable, "Dead," he spat at length, "all... dead."

Flutter's eyes glazed over and his knees gave way. "They're wh... what?" he gasped.

"Kamek and Kammy got to them, sir," explained one of the guards. "The general's third brigade is lying at the bottom of that hole out there," he stated as he pointed toward the great void where Flutter had beheld such a bizarre scene a moment ago. "And out of his first and second, there are maybe twenty survivors total, and they all look like this."

Flutter staggered to his feet and swallowed hard as he absorbed this information. "Get the general to the infirmary, double-time," he ordered the guards. "Comm, get me a line to whoever's commanding that doomship out there."

Before the communications lieutenant had time to process that order, the ground rippled once more from a sonic boom as three huge crafts dropped through the sound barrier, and a distinct, high-pitched voice overrode the city's comm system and projected itself from the command room's speakers. "This is Princess Wendy Orora Koopa," whined the voice, "commander of the _KDS Imperial Belle_. In the name of King Bowser Koopa, Emperor of the Koopa Race, Lord of the Underworld, and Master of all who hear this ultimatum, I command all Koopa soldiers engaged in rebellion to surrender immediately and unconditionally, and prepare to be detained."

Flutter clenched his fists and spat every curse that came to his battle-hardened mind at the sound of Bowser's daughter. "Sir," reported the radar operator, "it's true, it's _Imperial Belle_, along with the _Espio_ and the _Rambler_. They've brought the whole fleet, and they've got us surrounded.

**

* * *

**"Yeah!" crowed Roy from _Crusher_'s bridge, "Alright, we got 'em now!" Roy shook with delight as he beheld the battered fortress, overpowered rebel ships, and retreating rebel armies on the field below. "Now," he began addressing Lemmy and Iggy on his conference screen, "I want you two to find the mage-shield generator and take it out so Kamek 'n Kammy can move in for the kill." 

Lemmy, Bowser's second son, looked undecisive. "I dunno about this, Roy. I mean, aren't we supposed to be the good guys? And still, we're not exactly fighting fair here. I mean, six doomships against-"

"Will you jus' shuddap 'n shoot?!" Roy roared. "I don't care about fightin' fair, this is a war! Now find that generator and shoot!"

"Yes, brother," acquiesced Lemmy meekly.

"Now," Roy muttered, "if those idiots can just-"

Crusher shook from the force of another plasma blast, interrupting Roy's thoughts.

"For the love o'... can't they keep that idiot Ludwig quiet long enough for us to close in?" Roy complained, "I mean, his ship's a garbage scow even without the battle damage!"

"Milord," answered the Sledge Brother commandant, "that blast wasn't from _Amadeus_."

"Then who WAS it from?"

"If this readout is right, it came from a hill about a half-kilometer off the Starboard Stern."

"W... what?" Roy stuttered, "What's a plasma cannon doing out there?"

**

* * *

**"Lord Ludwig," interjected Ludwig's jubilant commandant, "you were right. Look!" The commandant adjusted the _Amadeus_'s viewscreen and focused in on a nearby hilltop, where stood a massive, hulking, brutish gray Koopa pointing a plasma cannon larger than the body of a Hammer Brother in the general direction of _Crusher_." 

Even Ludwig, who made it a point never to disbelieve his eyes, could not contain his shock as he beheld the viewscreen and recognized the unmistakable figure of Monstro, the renegade Koopa Warlord. "Had I not seen it, Jazzman," he declared as if his twin were standing next to him, "I would have thought it impossible, but you were correct. He IS still alive, and there he is."

"But for how long, sir?" warned Ludwig's radar controller, "_Crusher_'s headed his way, apparently interested in seeing who crashed the party."

"We shall see that Roy does not get the chance to find out." Ludwig announced defiantly. "The Warlord's sidearm is not the only weapon of mass destruction present on this battlefield, and I dare say now would be a fine time to employ the ones in our own possession."

_Amadeus_'s gunner grinned, revealing a mouthful of grim teeth. "Now," he hissed, "you're talking in MY language."

**

* * *

**"All I wanted to do was join a circus," Lemmy whined from the bridge of _Jester_, "I never wanted any part of this empire, this war, or, well, any of this. I just wanted to be a traveling clown." 

On the conference screen, Roy fiercely rolled his eyes. "Radar," he sighed to his radar operator, "check out that hill. And you," he snarled at Lemmy, "need to shut up and get to shootin'! I see _Amadeus_ coming up fast off our port flank and you ain't doin' squat about it. I can't do everything myself, y'know!" Roy paused as his helmsman dodged a view choice shots from _Amadeus_. "I mean, I swear: between your complainin', Big Mouth's babblin', Wendy's whinin', and-"

"Monstro!" gasped Roy's radar operator in horror.

"Yeah," Roy noted absent-mindedly, "him too. I mean, how-" by this time, the two-syllable word had finally registered in Roy's not-so-quick brain. "What, what did you say?" he whispered, as if afraid even to hear the dreaded name of the fallen Warlord.

"See for yourself, sir," quavered the tiny Troopa as he focused the viewscreen on the hilltop in question Curious to see what all the fuss was about, _Jester'_s radar operator followed suit. There, just as he said, stood the massive, gray muscular figure of a Sledge Brother. The viewer focused so closely that even Warlord's false eye was visible to the entire bridge crew of Jester. From the scowl on his face it seemed almost as though he knew there were Imperial eyes upon him, and he was not pleased about it.

"Target that hilltop," Roy whispered fearfully, "with everything we've got, and fire before he gets off another shot."

The reply Roy got was a mighty explosion at the back of his ship's bridge, courtesy of Baron Ludwig von Koopa and the _Amadeus_.

"Hard astern!" Roy cried in desperation, "All Imperial craft, back us up immediately!"

"No can do," whined Wendy from _Imperial Belle,_ "I've got that halfling in my face. AAAAH! Get off of me, freak!"

"Oh, Roy," apologized Morton Big Mouth Koopa Jr. from _Rambler_, "that's a big, monstrous, incredible no-can-do: a no-no: a scientiffic impossibility: a-"

"Make your point!" shouted Larry, Bowser's youngest, from _Espio_.

"I'm tied up, occupied, and busy avoiding, defending myself from, and otherwise dealing with Jazzman, Ludwig's twin, the Forgotten Prince, the impostor, the-"

"Lord Lemmy," noted _Jester'_s commandant worriedly as Morton continued his keen analysis of the situation, " Monstro appears to be eyeing us as his next target. As Lemmy's mind raced to determine the best possible course of action, Roy pointed it out to him, in the most subtle and eloquent way possible.

"Retreat!" shouted Roy over all the noise. "All craft abandon mission and return to hangar immediately."

The terrified Koopa commanders didn't need any more convincing than that, and in moments they were bound for the safety of Bowser's Keep. _Radiant Raptor _gave a short chase but soon fell back, apparently unwilling to pursue the imperial fleet outside the range of Monstro's cannon. On the ground, Kamek and Kammy realized quite quickly that their air support was gone, and they returned under cover of Kamek's shadowing charm to Bowser's Keep, taking the darkness that had covered the noonday sky with them. The odds had been against it from the start, but the Monstro City rebels had won the day.

**

* * *

**"ARGH!" Flutter screamed as he thrust the chin-strap of his flight goggles into his mouth and began to munch fiercely. After the day's events he officially no longer knew which way was up, and the strain of the befuddling sequence of events was beginning to leave its mark on him. "I suppose now you're going to tell me that really IS Warlord Monstro out there!" 

"It's true, General," Monstermama clarified from the doorway, "that's what that 'interesting information' was that I told you about, and he's traveling with the delegation from the Mushroom Kingdom."

Flutter glanced through the command room's parascope at the hilltop where stood Monstro, and saw several human figures standing beside him, among them Mario, Luigi, and Princess Peach Toadstool of the Mushroom Kingdom, along with Her Royal Highness's Honor Guard.

"Stand down from alert status," Flutter ordered, "and prepare to receive the delegation."

"Sir," noted a crewman, "there are still three doomships out there, and they're requesting docking clearance."

"That's right, isn't it?" Flutter thought out loud, "Well, put me through to Baron Ludwig."

In an instant, the familiar face of Ludwig von Koopa graced the viewscreen.

"Baron," Flutter began, almost laughing at the irony of it, "am I to understand you're requesting docking clearance on my base?"

"You are to understand that, General," Ludwig answered with a nod.

"Well, Baron," Flutter answered, crossing his arms, "I'll probably be remembered by the history books for this as the stupidest risk-taker in the planet's history, but I'm going to grant your squadron docking clearance on one condition. Before you or any of your crew set foot in Monstro City I would just love an explanation of what in Good King Morton's name is going on here!"

**

* * *

**"We were ambushed, Lord Bowser," Roy whined as he attempted to justify his defeat. "Monstro was there. I don't know how, but Warlord Monstro was on the battlefield! Ask the others if you don't believe me." 

On the other end of the vid-window, Bowser stroked his chin thoughtfully. "I believe you," he nodded, "I was watching the battle closely, and I am aware of Monstro's presence." He paused a moment before continuing, "He was an unforeseen element. There is always an unforeseen element," he clenched his fist and added, "and next time, the unforeseen element will be in our favor. All the aces in the deck have been played, save one, which Fate has seen fit to deal to me, and I intend to play it in the next round."

Roy furrowed his brow in an attempt to understand this riddle-like speech. "What ace are you talking about?" he questioned suspiciously.

Bowser grinned malevolently, revealing all three rows of his merciless teeth, before answering, "To aid us in the next battle, we are going to raise the Destroyer Apollyon from the Abyss!"


End file.
